Career Academy South Bend’s Band Bonanza Concert celebrates musical excellence of all grade levels on a high note

On Thursday, May 15, families and friends celebrated in harmony as the Career Academy South Bend Band performed its Bonanza Concert. The night contained 12 songs performed by five different groups.

The concert featured a cadet band, concert band, symphonic band, and jazz band with students from all grade levels at Career Academy, including both middle and high school students.

Zoey Graber, a seventh grader who plays the alto saxophone for the concert band, believes this program contains an array of powerful songs for the audience.

“A lot of the songs we’re playing for this concert are very energetic,” Graber said. “One of our songs called ‘Ancient Fires’ is probably one of the most exciting songs that I’ve ever played, and the concert contains some of the most intense songs we’ve played all year.”

While middle school students might play with bandmates in their grade levels the most, students like Graber are excited for this opportunity to celebrate their musical talent as a collaboration with students from other grade levels as well.

“It’s interesting to see the different music performed at each grade level,” Graber said. “There’s a wide range of songs that every group has prepared for this day.”

Gavin Kemp is a seventh grade percussionist with the concert band. He was excited to see an impressive turnout and how the audience reacted to each musical selection.

“It’s a really good feeling to see a packed crowd come watch us perform,” Kemp said. “It helps build some confidence. It’s exciting too because we have middle school jazz playing for the first time here.”

The Symphonic Band at Career Academy recently received a SUPERIOR rating at the Cedar Point Music Festival. Kemp believes that having experienced leaders in the higher grade levels will only help students of his class and many more to come.

“Seeing other grade levels above us receive an honor like that is pretty awesome,” Kemp said. “I think it’s great because it’ll help motivate us to reach that level as well.”

Family, friends, and other supporters came out for this epic concert. Sharon Perry is a supporter of the band and came to watch her daughter, Sarah, perform on the flute.

“I think it’s fantastic that they bring all the grade levels together,” Perry said. “Sarah just started doing band this year, and the last one was fantastic. We look forward to it every year.”

The Bonanza Concert not only has some of the most complex pieces that students have played this year, but also a number of iconic selections.

“Whether people want to admit it or not, it’s a lot of fun to get together and play with your classmates and bandmates,” Perry said. “Today’s concert even has a little bit of Michael Jackson in it, so it’s definitely an exciting night.”

Career Academy celebrated its eighth consecutive year of receiving the NAMM Foundation’s SupportMusic Merit Award at the concert. Additionally, the program included a recognition for the seniors who performed in this concert. Those seniors include Danni Adkins, Zach Doster, Sam Hudak, Brady Rice, Honesty Ross, and Zi’En Smith.

For more information on Career Academy South Bend, you can visit careeracademysb.com.