The McKinley band and orchestra performed their Pops Concert on March 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the M.M. Scott Auditorium to familiarize people with popular songs.

“We try to play music that relates more to pop culture; music that people are familiar with,” sophomore flutist Rona Lei Duldulao said.

Duldulao said she practices her music often in preparation for the concert.

“I practice my music every week and I try to practice everyday as well,” she said.

Preparing for the concert involves a lot of work. Sophomore percussionist Katherine Liu said the music programs focus on details to enhance sound effects.

“The musical aspect includes being able to play my individual part and mend my part with my section, then bend and balance it with the whole band,” she said. “I practice my music as much as I can to make sure I play the correct notes, rhythms, and dynamics.”

It takes hard work, love, and focus to make music sound beautiful. Junior clarinetist Angelo Luna said preparing for the concert is a journey.

“I usually practice six days of the week to get the standard of where we have to be as we progress closer to concert,” he said.

Liu said teamwork involved in the preparation of the concert includes musical and non-musical preparation.

“Members of each section work to make their part sound good, then each section is put together to sound good as a whole,” she said. “The non-musical aspects also include decorating the auditorium for the concert, creating programs, and making scripts.”

Liu said the concert is different from other concerts McKinley has performed in a way that has a different vibe.

“The music is more mainstream (pop music) and there are less formalities,” she said.

Sophomore saxophonist Grant Castro said the concert is different from other concerts the McKinley music programs has performed.

“We perform more modern and well-known pieces,” he said.

Luna said the concert is more on the pop side; music people might hear on the radio, movie films, etcetera.

“We don’t wear coats during the concert,” he said.

Luna said some challenges in a band are making music and playing as one rather than playing notes and rhythms.

“Performing in a concert is a gift that some people won’t experience and all the hard work you put into the performance gets to be put out in the audience; hopefully on a positive note,” he said.

Castro said the musical elements are another challenge that bands face.

“Some challenges include being unified with our sound whether it be intonation, articulation, tone, dynamics, balance, etcetera,” Castro said.

Liu said the challenges of performing in a band include time and effort each person contributes to practice their music.

“Every part is important and needs to be at a certain level for the music to sound good and come together,” she said.

Being able to blend as a whole instead of individuals is hard work. Luna said having balance in music is vital.

“We need to learn how to blend as a whole band instead of sticking out or people canceling each other’s sound,” he said.

Castro said performing for a concert is special.

“It is a result of the band and orchestra’s time and effort over the course of a few months,” he said.

Castro said teamwork is vital to performing a concert.

“Teamwork requires lots of focus to unify the band’s sound collectively,” he said.

Liu said the experience of performing a concert is like no other and the emotions felt before, during, and after the performance makes a concert unique.

“Lots of hard work is put into the preparation for the concert and during the concert,” she said. “Performance anxiety often occurs but my previous allow me to feel confident in what I’m doing. At the end, it’s very satisfying to see the hard work pay off when music is performed.”