Without spreading the virus, Wind Symphony is still trying to spread Christmas joy to the elementary students in the district.

Every year the Wind Symphony band tours through elementary schools to perform Christmas music and music from popular movies for the children, such as the Grinch, Into the Unknown from Frozen II and the band tradition, Sleigh Ride. Every year, except this year that is.

Wanting to continue the Christmas tradition, director Gregory Hayse and the Pride of the East made the accommodation of performing virtually through a live stream that the elementary schools presented in their classrooms Dec. 8.

“There is always a potential for technical issues when it comes to live streaming a performance because you never know when technology will fall short, but it went really well,” Director Adam Bassett said. “We obviously prefer to play in front of a live audience, but safety is our number one priority right now during this weird time.” 

Mr. Basset set up microphones and cameras in the school auditorium for the live stream. Band students were socially distanced on the stage and wore their masks in between music pieces.

“It was a little weird performing in front of the camera, but it didn’t affect my overall performance all that much,” sophomore Landon Daniels said. “I really think my trombone ensemble did pretty well.”

Hayse introduced every instrument and its respective families to the elementary students. Each section played a song with their ensemble so the students got to see and hear all the different sounds and what makes each instrument special.

“I remember when the wind symphony came to my elementary school in fourth grade,” Wind Symphony student Andrea Ensign said. “The high schoolers stood around the cafeteria with their instruments. I was amazed at the unique sounds and it inspired me to look more into music–and now I’m in band!”