My First Purdue Bands and Orchestras Concert

On October 14th, the Purdue Fall Concert Band, which I am a part of, had our first concert. I initially didn’t know how to feel about it, and I thought that it was going to be just another band concert that I would perform and forget about the next day.

I was wrong.

The concert was a completely different experience than what I went through in high school. Being a current freshman, I have recently gone through the jump from high school to college and have the high school band experience fairly fresh in my mind.

We performed at the Long Center in Lafayette, which is so far the coolest place I have ever performed at. The outside of the facility reminds one of an old theater, and the inside tells the same story. It’s on the smaller side, but the sound the band plays rings throughout it and gives the audience a captivating experience — way different from a high school auditorium.

Before the concert, we had a one-hour “sound check” to ensure that the actual performance would go smoothly and sound appealing. It went well with relatively no problems, and if there were any, they were minor enough to be corrected on the spot. You could feel the excitement and nervousness in the air, and everyone around me was ready to show off what we had been rehearsing for two months.

Walking onto the stage for my first college band concert is a feeling I don’t think I will ever forget. I was proud of myself for making it thus far in my playing career. I was nervous, and I was filled with passion to make sure that I would sound the best that I possibly could. As soon as the first downbeat was played, I knew that the performance was going to be golden; and it was. The dynamics in the music were more exaggerated, and more emotion seemed to be flowing through the music than ever before.

Reflecting back on October 14th, it was a great day, and everyone was pleased with how they did. Now, I’m looking forward to and putting a lot of energy towards our performance in December. It’s a lot of work, but once you walk onto the stage, everything you’ve been practicing suddenly has meaning and becomes worthwhile. It’s a truly amazing feeling.