The East triad winter concert was a unique experience this year for the students. Rather than separate the schools as usual, elementary students, junior high, and high school students converged at the Storey Gym for a concert to remember. 

“[The concert] went well. It was fun to see the younger kids play and know that that’s where we came from. It was a nice change from how we usually do our holiday concerts,” Lana Novotny, 12, commented. 

While the concert did have its rough spots, according to the students, overall it went well. In addition to the usual concert music, the high school band held a raffle featuring themed baskets compiled by each section. Emma Mauthe, 12, noted both the benefits and process of the baskets. 

“We each tried to sell 10 tickets and during the concert before the last piece the baskets were raffled off. We had close to 15 baskets and 2 gift card prizes,” Mauthe said. 

Mauthe also spoke about how the money raised would be used to benefit the band and pay off student fees from the marching band season. The concert bands weren’t the only participants in the event, however. The high school jazz band was also present at the concert, though their performance was earlier than the concert band. 

“We got there at about 5:45 since I’m in jazz band; we had to play a lot earlier than the band who started at 7. We had some rocky parts but overall, it went pretty well,” Peter Martinez, 10, said positively. 

The inclusion was helpful to the elementary and junior high students, as Novotny said earlier. They were able to see a small piece of what makes the high school band a fun experience. With the year and a half of absence from playing in school, the East triad winter concert was the first time freshman have played in a concert in that time. Hannah Schick, 9, attested to that in her interview.  

“There were a few things I can improve on, but it was nice to play with a higher-level band. We definitely have a family here at East High,” Schick stated. 

While there were hurdles to be crossed over, the bands overall did an excellent job representing their schools. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the East triad winter concert.