Selected Band Members Experience UNK Honor Band
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBy Ella Gaes
Five band students from Pierce High participated in the honor band hosted by the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Department of Music on Monday, January 30.
The honor band includes high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors who were selected through auditions. Congratulations to Trayton Christiansen, Tate Reinke, Travis Emory, Kaylee Steffen, and Braxtynne Emerson for being selected!
Pierce High band director, Michael Sindt talked about the day, “This was actually the first normal honor band held since January 2020, and it went really well. I am proud of the five that made it, and I think we represented Pierce High very well. We all had a fun time creating memories with the bands and later on the hotel's waterslides.”
Students from Pierce were placed into one of two bands, the festival band or the honor band and had the opportunity to work with UNK faculty and guest instructors.
Two members, Emory and Reinke, participated in the honor band and Christiansen, Steffen, and Emerson were included in the festival band.
Emory noted, “The best part of the trip was the water slides, obviously. But, overall, I loved getting to meet some very good percussionists from all around the state. Our clinician, Dr. Bierman, was full of musical knowledge and gave us some different musical concepts which was good to hear from another very talented instructor.”
The guest conductor for the honor band was Duane Bierman, who is the UNK director of bands, and the guest conductor of the festival band was Gary Davis, a retired UNK band director.
Sindt expressed, “One of my favorite songs, “To Create a Voice,” was written in honor of a beginning band director and had little hints of “Hot Cross Buns” featured in the song, which I thought was neat.”
Students who participated in the honor band had a day full of music making which concluded with a public concert in the evening.
