On Monday, Oct. 21, family and friends gathered in the Wheat Ridge auditorium to watch the Wheat Ridge band.

They performed marvelously, led by the new band teacher, Kendra Graf.

Everything has setbacks; these just happened to happen within a couple minutes before the show, but Graf knew how to work through them. The snare player was absent for the show, so they were short some players. She got senior Sam Stahl and junior Maggie Whittier to play and sight read for the symphonic band. These musicians got the music 10 minutes before the show started. 

“It was fairly simple rhythms. We didn’t play it perfectly, but we did alright, given the time. It helped that I had played one of the songs before,” said Stahl about receiving the music minutes before going on. 

With all the little setbacks, the band played beautifully. Every song was in tune and all around fun. Lots of people enjoyed “The Incredibles” by Michael Giacchino, which was the closing song. Including “The Incredibles,” they opened with “Chips and Salsa” by Edward Kiefer and “Eye of the Dragon” by Travis Weller. Soloist Brenna Griffin on the alto saxophone  did a fantastic job during the performance.  

Next up was Wind Symphony and they were amazing with all of their music. The music choice was great and everyone was on-key. It was like listening to a professional band. They have such a variety of interesting instruments, such as the tambourine, bassoon, baritone sax, and tenor sax. All the songs were performed greatly. The songs performed were “Fanfare for the Third Planet” by Richard Saucedo and “Three Celtic Dances” by Brian Balmages. This song had five soloists throughout the song including  junior Alex Davidson, senior Allen Alford, senior Maddie Gibson, sophomore Ariel Martin and junior Cathy Salazar. They all did fantastic. The band closed with “Joy Revisited” by Frank Ticheli, which also featured two soloists, Allen Alford and Ariel Martin.

“My favorite to perform was probably ‘Fanfare for the Third Planet’ because it was fast and difficult,” said Stahl. Friends and family that were present were so impressed, and the band got a standing ovation. 

This is one of many concerts throughout this school year. The band is excited to perform and learn more songs to prepare for festivals and other school concerts. If you haven’t gotten the chance to see a Wheat Ridge band performance, you have to see one. They are all so talented and ready to put on a show for you.