Hosting Honor Band

by Misty Lovejoy Alpha Xi - TBΣ Bowling Green State University Hosting Honor Band at Bowling Green

Beginning November 21st and ending on November 23rd, the Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts hosted our 2019 High School Honor Band. This included over 500 applicants from over 80 high schools throughout Ohio and Michigan. The sisters of Alpha Xi and the Beta Kappa brothers of our Kappa Kappa Psi chapter, look forward to and plan for this week from the beginning of the school year. Not only is it our biggest service and outreach opportunity, it is also a ton of fun for all involved! Out of the 500 applicants, there were about 300 total high school students that were accepted to be in this honor band clinic!

Our first day of service typically starts with a group of us checking each student as they arrive. When they first arrive, the students audition and are split into 4 ensembles. These ensembles are then dispersed into different rehearsal spaces around campus. Our brothers and sisters then get the finalized seating charts for each ensemble and begin the wonderful process of setting up each rehearsal room! This includes putting name tags, T-shirts, music, etc. on to each chair.

So where do these students stay while they are on campus for 3 days? Well, some of them commute and about 250 of them stay in a hotel close to campus. With that, we had 8 brothers and sisters who are scheduled to be chaperones at a hotel. This means that we slept in shifts and hung out in the hotel lobby until 6am, when it was time to wake the students for breakfast! As a two-time hotel chaperone myself, I would arguably say that this is the best shift to have. It’s a fun way to bond while during service and keeping the high school students safe! Sisters Noel Wuesthoff and Hayley Harleman before check-in for the honor band began!

Pictured from left-to-right: Sisters Ashleigh Diefenbach and Hayley Harleman, brothers Ben Tuttle and Heather Emberg, band office secretary Brandon Golpe, and Alpha Xi membership candidate Tristan Bonde

Walking the high school students back to their rehearsal hall after lunch!

High schoolers during the final performance on Saturday, Nov. 23rd in Kobacker Hall

Our service doesn’t stop there! We have many other shifts such as: taking students to their meals, handing out snacks, troubleshooting rehearsals, instrument transporting/guarding, and of course backstage concert crews!

To put in perspective the prominence of our service in this event, here is a quote from Dr. Kenneth Thompson, Coordinator of Major Ensembles at BGSU and coordinator of the Honor Bands:

“You are not doing something to gain something tangible…you are not doing something because it gains recognition. My observations are you do what you do because you have a passion rooted in bands, friendships and community – these things, while often thankless remain significant now more than ever.”

Listening to the final performances of each band at the end of the weekend, makes the stress worth it. We enjoy ourselves during this weekend and we could not imagine doing anything else but service during this time. Then, we do it all over again for our slightly shorter, Middle School Honor Band in the Spring! This event allows our chapter to reflect the ideas of the nationally recognized Crescendo program. This program directly addresses one of Tau Beta Sigma’s purposes: “To promote the existence and welfare of the collegiate bands and to create a respect and appreciation for band activities and achievements among the listening public everywhere”. We work hard for 3 whole days to make sure that everything runs smoothly for these students. We want them to have a fun time and enjoy themselves while making wonderful music! There have been many brothers and sisters that have been students at this honor band in the past and they always have good thoughts about their experience with our organizations’ service throughout this weekend.

Pictured left to right: brother Lauren Stitle, Alpha Xi membership candidate Matt McCormick, sister Indigo Knecht, College of Musical Arts stage manager and honorary sister Keith Hofacker, and brother Jade Timbrook