|
« Isiah Davis selected to Virginia Prep League |
Main
| Banner Year for Academy Appointments »
Military School Band Festival
Select members of FUMA's band traveled to Philadelphia, PA to participate in the 32nd Military School Band Festival at Valley Forge Military Academy & College.
Cadet Young Kee Hong shares his experience of the trip.
"Home, sweet home!" Chief Patterson's voice through the microphone and woke seventeen boys in the van. I looked at my watch, which told me that it was ten o'clock at night. I could see the lights from the barracks and circle. It was what I was so used to seeing, but it was not the same after what sixteen other boys and I went through over the weekend.
We left FUMA at three o'clock in the afternoon in Thursday, February 2st. It was six hour drive to Philadelphia, PA to our destination. Valley Forge Military Academy & College hosted the 32nd MSBF, Military School Band Festival on its campus. We auditioned with excitement while band directors from each school were showing their backs to musicians. After the audition, we formed into a band from military schools all over the country and started to practice. Most of us were out of tune as a band and required a great amount of practice. Some band members even thought that it was impossible to be fully prepared for the concert. We practiced from 1:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. on the first day, and then 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the second day. Musicians were getting tired; lips were getting numb; fingers were getting stiff; some people were having headaches; and spines were crying from pain. Nevertheless, no one asked to quit or stop. "We pushed it tp our limits," said the band director from Valley Forge Military Academy & College, who conducted the concert.
On the morning of the concert, participants dressed in their own school's parade uniform and took a group picture to remember what they had gone through together. At 2:00 p.m., the concert began in Price Hall with the National Anthem. At the end of the concert, the audience expressed its great impression with a standing ovation. All the practice had paid off even though during practice time we thought it was impossible.
More than a hundred people had prepared for a month for the 1 1/2 hour concert. During our stay we met many students from other military schools across the country and played great songs in perfect tune. It was arduous, but we made it. The order of seats was not important. What was important was that we gathered in one place as a band and played concert music in tune.
When I was getting off the bus after arriving at FUMA, I realized that the memory of my experience at Valley Forge will stay a lifetime.
Courtesy of Bruce Patterson, Written by Young Kee Hong
Posted by Elizabeth Liles, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 12:34 PM
General News
|
