McKinley High School’s annual Spring Concert was set to take place mid-April in M.M. Scott Auditorium during the evening but was canceled due to the risks of the coronavirus.

“Spring Concert usually has our Parade of Bands music,” sophomore flutist Rona Lei Duldulao said. “We do traditions [such as] senior gifts, banners, candle light ceremonies, etcetera. People usually cry since it’s our last big concert.”

Sophomore violinist Aniqua Mehdi said the music program prepared for the concert by working hard and practicing their music.

“[The] school closure affected our practice by having us not attend rehearsals and section rehearsals (sectionals) so we might have not gotten the help we needed,” she said.

Sophomore trumpeter Irika Zena B. Cruz said she prepares for the Spring Concert by playing her warm-ups such as the 20-minute routine and major scales.

“While doing my warm-ups, I try to apply or change the rhythm like adding long tones to certain notes and adding dynamics,” she said. “I try to apply what I have learned from class and sectionals, and I work on the tiniest details that I can improve on and understand how the teacher wants us to play it because it’s hard without the band playing; so I try to imagine how it should be played.”

Due to the school closure, it has been difficult for Cruz to play her best because she has to consider her family and neighbors while deciding and adjusting when to practice her music.

“I can still practice but not the way I want,” she said. “I have to change the way I practice since I don’t have an open space to fully extend my playing skills.”

It is important for everyone to practice because it takes a full effort to sound united as a group instead of clashing with each other.

“Some challenges about performing in a band [and orchestra] includes not having different instrument sounds crash with each other by pitch problems and intonation,” Mehdi said.

Another challenge of performing in a music group is losing focus and being ready to perform music.

“We need our focus on top of the game because once we get distracted, we won’t get that same focus we had before,” Cruz said. “We can’t say that our rehearsal was better, it has to be the opposite (the performance has to be better). We tend to ‘back-off’ during the real performance. We should be ready by the time it comes.”

It is important for McKinley’s music program to keep in shape no matter what happens by improving their music.

“We need to practice and work harder and build off from that,” Cruz said. “Every practice makes a difference, even when it’s just a short practice.”

The Spring Concert is the last major concert of the school year, especially for the seniors.

“It is a very special moment for the seniors to perform one last time in the McKinley Band/Orchestra,” Cruz said. “Feelings are flying everywhere and there is this beautiful feeling of us growing up and moving on.”

The Spring Concert is different from other concerts because it is a way to honor the seniors.

“There’s special ceremonies we do with our seniors to honor them for their hard work in the program for the four years they stayed,” Mehdi said.

Performing a concert is a special moment when it begins and ends.

“Every second and action feels special because you only get to do it once, so make it a special and an unforgettable moment,” Cruz said.

The teamwork involved in the preparation of the concerts involve individual practicing and applying fundamentals in rehearsals and sectionals.

“I feel sad because I was hoping to do the Spring Concert and honor our seniors,” Mehdi said. “Hopefully, we can do something else that can honor the seniors and have a last concert for the school year for all the hard work everyone has put in.”

Cruz said the teamwork involved in the preparation for the concert is a struggle worth fighting for because it’s all worth it in the end.

“Every practice or rehearsal makes a difference, even a tiny difference,” she said. “Working as a team helps us to build skills and understand each other. Teamwork also helps each individual by working on skills and by working and understanding with other people by being a leader and beginning and finishing as a team.”

Changes in structure and information were made on 4/27/2020.