As marching season comes to an end, the holiday season has finally begun! The award-winning Lake Ridge Band had their winter concert on Tuesday, December 11th, at 6:30 pm. With this being their first concert since marching and football season, the change from a busy and jam packed schedule to a more lenient and regular pace, is very different.

Asia White, sophomore, is in Wind Symphony and says that the transition from marching season to concert season was not a dramatic difference and neither were preparation and music.

“This year I’ve practiced more effectively and actually practiced. Switching from marching season to concert season really isn’t that different, it’s just that now we have more time to do things outside of school. Plus, preparing for the concert wasn’t stressful at all, and our music wasn’t that difficult in my opinion. We played different music, like there was Home Aloneness last year, but this year we had four movements in one song and the others were faster then last year’s,”said White.

Greg Martinez, sophomore, is in Wind Ensemble and says that the transition is not his favorite due to the distance between sections’ friends and the splitting as a whole of the band.

“It was boring, I low key hate concert season. It feels to me like sections grow apart because of the different bands. Marching season is just better because school is seemingly easier then compared to now. Plus we have those etude things and I can do homework while other people are playing and now I can’t so that sucks,” Martinez said.

Martinez’s experience with band concerts allowed him to be naturally prepared and ready. The difference in difficulty of music was not something that phased him.

“Preparing for the concert was easy. I’ve been doing it for like 4 years now so it’s just another concert. The music isn’t really challenging to be honest so there’s no need to go home and practice it like etudes,” Martinez said.

Daphne Avecedo, sophomore in Wind Ensemble, says that preparation for the concert was an overall team effort and without the unending support and hard work from her fellow band mates, the concert wouldn’t be as good as it turned out to be.

“It wasn’t stressful preparing for the concert, it’s pretty easy because all you have to do is practice your music and part for a while and everyone else in the band does their part by practicing as well. With everyone working and practicing their music, it sets the band up for success and helps the entire group,” Avecedo said.

According to Avecedo, the end of marching season is always very emotional. This is because marching season engaged the band in a more rigorous and involved schedule. But soon after, they get adjusted to a new a regime of rehearsal, excluding weekly Friday night football games.

“At first it felt pretty weird when marching season was over because it was all just like a routine to have rehearsal and games. And it was so much fun going through that every week and we’ve been doing that since school started. Honestly, it’s always very emotional when marching season is over but after a while we get ‘adjusted’ to our new ways of rehearsal for concert season,” Avecedo said.

Kacey Magana, freshman in Wind Ensemble, says that their schedule is different because of their long periods of sitting down and being inside, contrary to being outside most of the time and standing up during marching season, and their directors aren’t as hard on them.

“At first it was really different because marching season after school we would always go outside and during class we practice marching music and like we’d be standing up for most of the class, and for concert season we’d be sitting down and it’s not as stressful in a way and not as strict,” Magana said.

Nick Dearborne, sophomore in Wind Symphony, says that the change from having little to no free time during marching season, to having lots of free time brings a significant change

“It’s a huge difference because you have to go from never having any days off from band practice except for Wednesdays, and then you have a lot more free time when concert season starts but the it’s also not as fun because it’s a lot of stuff you have to practice. So in my opinion, I prefer marching season because it gets me away from home and it gives me an excuse not to do my homework. Marching season was fun, it reminds of  good times and you get to spend a lot of time with your friends,” Dearborne said.

With fresh endings, come new beginnings. As their winter concert concludes their first milestone, the Lake Ridge Band is moving on to a more a rogue identity. Some band members may see post-marching season is a drag, but a fresh season is what really awaits them.