October 11th was the day of the CHS Symphonic Band Enrichment'. All of the CMS Media and Yearbook Team students were excused to go, unless they were flagged. Mrs. Neumann’s daughter performed in the CHS Symphonic Band that day, so she was excited to go listen. When I walked in, the percussion students were playing a very catchy rhythm, and I could immediately tell that I would have a good experience at this Enrichment Activity. The band teacher, Mr. Sorenson, started the performance off with a dad joke, as he says he does at the beginning of every performance.
After making the students laugh with the joke, the band began to play “The CHS fight song”. Normally, they’d perform this song at a CHS school event, like a football game or an assembly, and the students would stand up, clap to the music, and sing along. Despite that fact, they still invited us to stand up, clap to the music, and sing along if we knew the words, just as the CHS students would do. Although none of us knew the words, some of us still stood up and clapped along.
Next, they had the senior students answer some questions that the CMS middle schoolers had for them. Some questions were simple, like “What’s your favorite food?” while others hyped up the crowd like “What’s the best instrument?” When that question was asked, various band members held up their instruments and cheered, and the person behind me enthusiastically yelled “Percussion! Percussion is the best!”.
Third, the percussion students played another rhythm on their drums, and it was even better than the first. The non-percussion students stood up and stomped to the rhythm, while the CMS audience sat back and watched the amazing show they kindly put on for us.
Lastly, they played the song “Lightning Field” which is written to sound like a storm, with lightning rods catching the lightning. They made this effect with special drums that had a wire coming out of the bottom, and if you shook them, they’d make a sound similar to lightning during a thunderstorm.
All in all, I had a great time listening to the CHS Symphonic Band perform at October 11th’s enrichment. As a music lover, I would definitely recommend you go to see CHS’s next concert. I wish I could have stayed longer, but it was sadly cut short due to the 5 minute bell ringing just before they played the song “Lightning Field”. Luckily, they still played another song as I left with the crowd. I would like to thank Mr. Sorenson and his students for putting on such a wonderful performance.
Written by Emily B. (7th grader)
