By Thulani Davis
Staff Writer
Northampton High School Band won Silver at Festival of Gold in Washington DC. On Friday May 8, 2009, the NHS Band went to DC for the chance to play at the John F. Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts.
Although the students enjoyed the trip, there was a lot of performing and practicing, and it was very much a school day. We had to get up at 7 a.m. for breakfast and then play for two hours from 8:30 to 10:30. We even had a rehearsal the night we arrived.
It was fun and a great way to meet other musicians. Our competition was T. C. Roberson High School from North Carolina. They were much bigger than us, but we were not intimidated. Collectively, we created a Superband that played together on Kennedy Center Stage. All of us became friends and we will never forget Sumner, our favorite trumpet player.
Luckily, we had good weather because we did many tourists activities like walk around the monuments and memorials. Many of us went up to the top of the Washington Monument. Ford’s Theatre was nice because we were able to hear the story about President Lincoln’s assassination and visit the house that he died in the following morning. We saw a funny, interaction improv performance called “Sheer Madness” at the Kennedy Center. Tuesday morning we ended our trip with Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum before coming home. We all took many pictures with our favorite celebrities, including Michelle and Barak Obama.
The bus rides were long (8 hours), but always fun. Everyone at some point slept. We watched plenty of movies as well. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I hope that there will be more band trips in the future. It’s a great experience. We played really well and that’s all that matters. This trip couldn’t have been any better.
This entry was posted on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 09:43 and is filed under .
