Jays soar at Carnegie

New York City; The Big Apple, home of the Statue of Liberty, the original New York Style pizza, Wall Street and Carnegie Hall. Often visited by people coming to explore America, however this past Friday it was the temporary home of the Marshfield Blue Jay band.

On Wednesday, April 13, a talented group of 43 Marshfield High School students ranging from Freshmen to Seniors, were accompanied by their band director Dan Wyman and chaperones. The energetic bunch hopped on a jet and flew to the city that never sleeps.

“About a year ago, I applied to perform at the National Band and Orchestra Festival and we were accepted,” recounted Wyman about their opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall. “We announced it to the kids and they were just ecstatic…later that day a few teachers asked what happened, they (the kids) were just shaking in their seats, and I said ‘Well, we are performing at Carnegie Hall’. It’s been kind of a big deal.”

According to Wyman, the community has been very supportive over the last year helping the band members fundraise to cover the cost of an experience of a lifetime. “Many of the students had never been on an airplane before,” said Wyman. “We are incredibly thankful to our school; to our Principle Jeff Curly and our Superintendent Mike Henry for supporting us. And our community members are just fantastic.” 

The ensemble played four pieces starting with Declaration Overture by Claude T. Smith. “We programed that one specifically because Claude T. Smith is a Missouri composure and was a Missouri band director. We thought it would be neat to perform a piece by a Missouri band composer at Carnegie,” explained Wyman. The ensemble also performed  Yorkshire Ballad by James Barnes, “A Little Tango Music” by Adam Gorb and “Chant and Jubilo” by W. Francis McBeth 

“It was really emotional. Just the gravity of being in that hall…I’ll never forget when they opened the stage door for me to walk out on stage and I saw all of our kids sitting there, it was just…I had to hold it in because I had a job to do, but it was just truly incredible,” reflected Wyman. “The kids were ecstatic the whole time and there was a real electricity in the air that you could feel. It was by far the best they have ever played. It was truly a magical moment.”

In addition to being able to perform, the students also had the opportunity to spend some time with two directors, H. Robert Reynolds and Craig Heircoff, to talk with them, ask questions and “feel the energy of being in the room with two incredible band masters,” explained Wyman. “Besides being able to perform in the hall, that was probably the next best part of the trip.”

Despite only being in New York City for a short four days, the students and parents were able to knock several things off the New York bucket list. “We were kind of running around a little bit. The parents and students were troopers about it,” joked Wyman. “We got to go see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, we of course hit Times Square for a while, we went to Top of the Rock and got a nice areal view of the whole city, and lots of great food. Obviously we had to get some New York style pizza and New York style cheesecake too,” laughed Wyman. 

Following is the list of students who performed on the stage at Carnegie Hall: Kaili Blanch, Conor Burks, Avery Byars, Calli Clemons, Dalley Dees, Aimsley Devoto, Cayley Dooly, Mekenzi Gideon, Kai Hallmark, Skylar Heinzel, Nathaniel Heistand, Kayle Kautz , Michael King, Madison Krause, Abbigail Loftis, Sally McHardy, Maggie Melvin, Anna Metz, Logan Miller, Kaedra Moore, Rachel Nottestad, Mikaylah Oaks, Austin Palubicki, Lauren Replogle, Ethan Rockwood, Jimmy Sanders, Hayden Schultz, Cylea Stalker, Michael Stasiak, Serenity Tunnell, Clayton Wester, Braden Whorton, Zane Wood and Duncan Young.