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November 1, 2009

Honor band prepares for performance

Area students among the many performing tonight at Gustavus

By Tanner Kent

MANKATO — They don’t call it honor band for nothing.

Only the best and brightest are invited to participate in tonight’s Honor Band Festival concert to be held at Gustavus Adolphus College. And the 100-plus high school musicians who were selected have a tall challenge.

They will be playing with bandmates from more than 50 schools spread across Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and South Dakota. They will be playing unfamiliar music in the voluminous Christ Chapel. And they have about 24 hours to rehearse.

“At first, it might be a little confusing and nerve-wracking,” said Cameron Clause, a senior trumpeter at Mankato East. “But we’ll get into the mode of things.”

It should come as little surprise that Clause and his fellow honor-band nominees from Mankato aren’t too worried. These students have a habit of performing — and succeeding — under pressure.

Clause, who learned the trumpet from his father, plays with his dad in the church brass choir. Fellow Mankato East trumpeter Mat Schnorenberg scored a near-perfect on his ACT and has participated in several regional and all-state bands.

Mankato Loyola seniors Bennett Coughlan (saxophone), Amanda Nusser (clarinet) and Matthew Blain (tuba) are all top students and also have participated in similar honor bands, including the Mankato Area Lancers competitive marching band.

Sean Plemmons, a junior trombonist at Mankato West, will finish tonight’s performance at Christ Chapel and head straight to rehearsals for West’s musical production of “Beauty and the Beast.”

“I’ve got it timed out so I should be walking in the door just as my part is coming onto the stage,” Plemmons said.

Students are selected for the concert on a nomination basis by area music directors. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the annual Gustavus event, which is led by Gustavus wind orchestra director Doug Nimmo.

The concert will open with selections from the student band, and then selections from the Gustavus wind orchestra. The event will conclude with the honor band and orchestra playing together.

At that point, more than 165 musicians will be playing in unison.

Clause and Schnorenberg will be hammering their trumpets, one of the loudest instruments in the band, while Coughlan plays any saxophone he’s asked to (he knows how to play them all).

Nusser will be performing the difficult trills and runs often asked of clarinet players when the music calls for a subtler sound; and Plemmons might even break out his “pedal B flat” — a note that dives a full octave below what trombonists usually play.

And, of course, you can’t forget Blain and his tuba.

“With music, you have to build a foundation,” said Coughlan, crediting his classmate. “You can’t have good tone without a tuba.”

With so many different musicians and so little time to rehearse, students said the secret is playing with confidence.

It is an honor band, after all.

“You can’t be afraid,” Nusser said, “to tackle the piece and take it head on.”

If You Go
What
Honor Band Festival concert for high school students
When
7 p.m. today
Where
Christ Chapel, on the Gustavus Adolphus campus
Tickets
Free, and open to the public.

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