Our community was very blessed over spring break to have the United States Army Field Band perform at our local high school auditorium. Any time a group like this comes through, our family makes our best effort to attend because they always have amazing programs.
This particular performance was really special, however, because the concert band and soldiers’ chorus invited local students to join them in performing one song. When we were asked to consider doing this, we were very excited. So we downloaded the sheet music that the group provided, practiced the song and waited for the special day.
We never know exactly how something like this is going to go, but I felt pretty sure that being part of the US military, this one would be handled very professionally. And it was. Before the concert a member of the choir came and explained to the kids exactly what would be happening and what they would need to do. There weren’t any rehearsals, but I felt pretty confident that this would work out all right.
So we enjoyed the concert. The band and chorus performed a variety of pieces. We especially liked a band song entitled El Camino Real by Alfred Reed. The kids really enjoyed it when the chorus presented several songs from musicals including Tradition from Fiddler on the Roof. Boy, did that bring back some fun memories from the musical a couple of years ago!
This concert was a special treat for Kara, who loves all things military. She was enraptured throughout the concert–especially when a featured soloist played a trombone piece. (She recently began taking lessons on the trombone herself and loves it!)
The kids sang their song with the chorus, and, of course, that was pretty neat. They all came back to their seats with big smiles. The Army Field Band treated my kids like royalty–several times throughout the evening, they’d come ask them how they were enjoying the performance, what songs they liked, etc. At the end of the show, they brought each of them (and me too) a personalized dog tag as a thank you for participating. It really was a great experience–one that I know they will always remember.