BonnerSprings.com

Members of the Bonner Springs High School Band confidently took their spot on the Alamodome field during halftime of last week’s Valero Alamo Bowl to perform in front of the largest crowd they had ever encountered as musicians.

Daniel Mejia, sophomore, and Aaron Lewis, Courtney Wheeler and Sierra Seacat, all of whom are juniors, said they were able to set their nerves aside and just enjoy the Dec. 29 experience.

“To perform in front of such a large audience is not something that very many people get to do, and I was very honored to get to do that,” Wheeler, who plays the trumpet, said after the 44-member band’s five-day field trip, Dec. 26-30, to San Antonio. “And it’s kind of the basis of what being a musician is, is being able to inspire that many people through your music … It was just a great experience to get to really put yourself out there as a musician, even if it was in such a large group.”

That large group included four other high school bands — from Troy, Lamar, Mo., and two from Texas — as well as the college bands hailing from the two schools competing against each other during the game: the University of Washington and Baylor University. All of the bands took up the entire field during halftime to play together the well known Journey anthem, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

Outside of the college bands, which each performed from their school’s end zone of the field, all of the bands were separated into instrument sections. Lewis, who plays bass drum, said the idea of playing with unfamiliar musicians had him a little nervous initially.

But he and the other BSHS Band mates soon found they were the most prepared out of all the other bands, being the only band to have its music memorized. During the five hours of rehearsal that took place prior to the performance, Wheeler said it quickly became clear who the leaders were in each section.

“To have your music that well memorized, it’s like they point to you to show everyone else” how to play the part, she said.

The band members’ confidence during the performance didn’t just stem from being so well prepared, however. They also got a boost early in the week when the band earned overall first place in a parade competition organized for all participating high school bands. The band also earned trophies for outstanding music, outstanding maneuvering, outstanding drum major and outstanding general effect.

The trip wasn’t all about music, though. The students also had the opportunity to take in the sights of San Antonio, visiting the River Walk, the Institute of Texan Cultures, which is a 65,000 square foot museum, and the Alamo. Seacat, who had never been to Texas prior to the trip, said visiting San Antonio was almost like entering another world, architecturally speaking.

“In San Antonio, they have a lot of gorgeous architecture. I really enjoyed all the buildings there,” she said. “It’s a really different style of architecture there than Kansas City. It was really neat.”

The students traveled by bus to and from San Antonio, stayed at the Hilton San Antonio Airport Hotel and raised the necessary $700 in per-student expenses themselves, either through fundraising or parental support. Six adult chaperones, including BSHS Band director Bill Turley, accompanied the group.

As the first trip the band had taken in 10 years, Turley said it was a successful beginning to what hopefully will become many more trips in the future — especially as the experience gives students a taste of what it’s like to be a professional musician.

“They did really well. They were the most prepared group there and did everything we need to, and I think they really enjoyed themselves,” he said. “And the thing I like most is this is what it’s like being a professional musician … you do these repetitive things over and over again and that’s really hard to simulate at school.”

The students say they have come back from their experience as stronger musicians — and maybe even wiser ones, as well.

“We all learned something in some way; how to work with new people better, how to not be afraid,” Mejia said. “To show that maybe you know the music better than some people and all of that.”

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