Each year around November, Rolla High School Band gets ready to step into concert season, wrapping up their busy marching season. Band is a huge part of Rolla High School; more than 300 students are actively participating in the Rolla High School Band. One branch of the band, the school’s marching band, is a favorite of the students. Marching season is filled with busy schedules, friends, long practices, and bonds that last through many kids’ high school career. The transition from marching season to concert can be tough, or relieving; it mostly depends on how a student looks at it.

“Marching band is really fun, but it’s high-key stressful. So I’d say going from marching to concert is a positive change, because I’m not as stressed about what’s going on,” junior saxophone Celeste Lietz said.
Some see it as an ending, others view it as a start. From freshman to seniors, there is no doubt that everyone has their unique stories, different experiences, and independent opinions from marching band, but they all come together from the bonds and feelings they share.

“I think it’s a little sad because it was the seniors last show, there’s a lot of really good seniors that are going to be leaving,” Freshman clarinet Serenity Gaither said.

A lot of the band is made up of seniors, the kids who have seemingly been marching the field since forever. Everyone knows the seniors, they are looked up to and valued among all classmen. When that competition hits, tears tend to fall, and emotions only intensify as kids realize this is the last time marching with a band they have known for four years.
While a lot of students are worried about their time left, others are enjoying sleeping in without all the early mornings and late nights. For most, concert season is a chance to kick back and relax without the stress of competitions, football game halftimes, and extensive practices.

“Well, I have more free time after school, and my Saturdays are no longer busy. I don’t have to wake up as early, that’s really good,” Lietz said.

When the season mellows out, most of the band kids do too. The once rowdy, adrenaline rushed teens are reintroduced to the controlled chaos of Symphonic and Concert Band. Drill sets and marching techniques slide into chair placements and submitted audition videos.

“I think we are happy with how our season ended,” Gaither said.

The members of the band loved their marching season, and now that they have transitioned into the concert season, they give the whole community a chance to experience the power of their music. And since March is Music In Our School Month, it is one of the best times of year to experience all that the Rolla band has to offer.

Junior Morgan Bell plays the clarinet, and music has always been one of her favorite escapes from the real world.

“Whenever I get too stressed out at school or in life in general, I will usually just go to my room and play some form of music. Trying to improve myself as a musician helps me forget my problems,” Bell said.

Senior flute player Kristina Happel has similar feelings about the emotion that goes into band and music.

“When I go to college, and graduate, and get a job, it’ll be a little weird, but it’ll be good. Because I’m not going to be, like a body doctor. I’m going to be a soul doctor,” Happel said.

Rolla’s band is one that has been celebrated by the students in it and the audience that watch it. Rolla has been blessed to are about the music programs, which has helped many students flourish.

“You hear a lot about school not caring about the arts. Like it’s all STEM now, no music. And I’m not going to lie, STEM is important, but so is music. Two things can be important in different ways,” Happel said.

The music programs in our schools are the kind that people can savor for their whole student careers, allowing students to explore not just their art, but themselves.

“The music programs in our school have really helped develop me as a person, and it’s helped my confidence a lot,” Bell said.