Samantha Ramirez gets a kick out of music and, particularly, band.
“I’m not really a sports person and band just fit me,” said the Sweet Home High School senior, who’s been part of the Sweet Home program since the sixth grade, when a friend talked her into trying it.
“I just understand the rhythms, the patterns.”
But in a small high school with a very limited music program, she and other serious musicians have to find ways to augment what training and experience is available.
That’s why Ramirez, along with two fellow band members, senior Sierrah Owen and junior Hailey Dellinger, traveled to Seattle Nov. 21-24 for the 2014 Western International Band Clinic, which is the musical equivalent of a big tournament or high-end sports camp for athletes.
The 36th annual convention, held at the DoubleTree Hotel near the Seattle airport, included instruction from recognized experts in band music, who led four different bands, and rehearsals – lots of them.
“You go to rehearsals three or four times a day,” said Ramirez, who was attending for the second time this year. “You eat and sleep between that and you get a little bit of time to hang out. The rehearsals are three or four hours every time. Your face hurts when you go to sleep. But you’d better be ready to play when the performance comes around in four days.
“We were thrown into bands of 150 people we hardly knew and we had to have something ready. Every band had five songs to learn and every director was different. It’s good to experience different teaching styles and multiple directors. Last year we had a director from somewhere in Europe. He had a non-American way of conducting and teaching that was really eye-opening.”
The three Sweet Home musicians all played in different bands, based on their skill level. Owen played the flute, Dellinger played the clarinet in the upper-level band, and Ramirez played the tuba.
She actually also can play the trombone, French horn, trumpet and alto saxophone – and she started with the flute.
“I’ve gotten to the point where (SHHS band teacher) Mr. (Pat) Johnson has me hop around from instrument to instrument – wherever he needs me,” said Ramirez, who is Band Council president this year.
All three Sweet Home musicians have participated in Music in May, a smaller performance event at Pacific University, and Ramirez said she’s played in an orchestra there.
“It’s a completely different experience,” she said.
She said WIBC represents a whole new ballgame for Sweet Home musicians, size-wise at least. Until she made her first trip last year to the convention, which draws some 600 musicians, it had been several years since a Sweet Home band member had participated.
The event draws participants from all over the Northwest, including northern California, and internationally – Australian students attended this year on their summer break.
“It is a completely different experience compared to what we have here in Sweet Home,” Ramirez said. “Here in Sweet Home we’re more self-centered. It’s all you really know. Most people in (the Sweet Home) band have had Mr. Johnson for seven years.
“Here, I’m one of the top students in band. There, people are auditioning for different places, soloing for parts. I’m not necessarily one of the top students. It’s much more diverse and you get to experience a more competitive environment. Even the low band is good to get in.”
Plus, they performed “college-level” music and original compositions, and got to play with professional soloists.
“We performed with two flute soloists. One played (a piece from) “Schindler’s List” that made you cry. It was crazy. She played a gold flute – 14 carat or something like that.”
Ramirez, who said she plans to attend college, probably out of state, to major in music performance or composition, said she learned things she’ll pass on to the sixth-graders she currently teaches in the Sweet Home program and to her fellow musicians in Jazz Band, which is the closest thing to an elite band the high school offers.
Despite the limitations, Ramirez said she’s gotten a good foundation in Sweet Home.
“Thankfully, Mr. Johnson sees the interest in me,” she said. “He’s been very supportive. He’s probably the most supportive, influential teacher I’ve had since sixth grade.”
Ramirez noted that the trip to Seattle also offered a chance to develop relationships with five Lebanon High School musicians who also attended, whose program is more developed – with a marching band and more band levels.
“We rode up with them and that helped build a bridge with them. It was interesting.”