Southeast Polk’s three concert ensembles will perform at the high school on April 29, 2022 to compete in the Adventureland Band Festival.

These ensembles include the Symphonic Band, the Concert Band, and the audition-only Wind Ensemble.

Senior Abigail Risius will be performing on the flute and piccolo in the Wind Ensemble and the Symphonic Band. This will be Risius’ second time performing at the Adventureland Festival due to COVID and other cancellations in the past two years. Naturally the spirits are high in the band hallway at Southeast Polk.

“I’m most excited to hear from judges about how we can better individually and as a whole. I also just love the experience in general with being able to bond with everybody and have fun while playing music,” said Risius.

The bands are working hard during their rehearsals in order to successfully perform their pieces at the festival. Every time they can meet, the bands focus on improving their biggest issues ranging from rhythms, pitch, balance, and blend.

“The bands practice every day and have small practices outside of class to work on specific parts in our section. We have been recording and then [analyzing] what we hear to better our band as a whole,” said Risius.

But each band student is responsible for learning their part and how their part interacts and fits within the rest of the ensemble at any given moment in the piece. This requires lots of individual practice, but Risius gives insight to the routine that works for her in hopes of helping a struggling musician.

“I practice every day for at least 30 minutes focusing on more of the harder parts than the easier parts that I have under my fingers,” said Risius. “Having patience and working things slowly will eventually lead to success.”

The bands are looking forward to executing a reward performance and enjoying making music with their peers during this festival.