When you walk into the auditorium you hear the orchestra playing Jupiter, the bands playing Stars and Stripes Forever, the choir singing the National Anthem, and every hometown hero coming to see the veterans concert. The Veterans Day concert took place on November 14th, 7pm at the East Leyden Auditorium. After just 2 weeks after their last concert, the music department prepares to perform their second concert of the semester.

Vanessa Nwauwa a senior in orchestra had a lot to say regarding not being able to see the performances live, she states “I think it’s kind of unfortunate that the students aren’t able to stay in the balcony, or be in the auditorium where we usually are, especially the orchestra who doesn’t play as much as the bands. The bands, they’ll come in, they’ll play, and they get it off, and they come in, they play again, especially the symphonic band, and like the choirs, the choir and bands are able to stay in the auditorium.”During past concerts, students a section or the balcony was saved for the students in the music department to be able to watch the concert until it finished, but for this concert, students were told to wait in the space next to the auditorium. Vanessa finds it especially unfair to the orchestra as she explains, “I feel like it’s a little unfair to the orchestra who has to sit out here the whole time, uncomfortable on the floor, not even being able to put our instruments away, which kind of proves like it might be a little bit of a safety risk, considering that our instruments aren’t as durable as band instruments. Ours is made out of wood and are very expensive versus band instruments, which I’m not saying they’re more expensive, however, I mean it’s more durable due to being made out of a stronger material. So I kind of feel like it’s really unfair to some groups, especially the orchestra, that we don’t have the chance to view the rest of the concert.” Even in past concerts that couldn’t save a section for students, they were still told to stand on the sides of the auditorium to still be able to listen to the concert.

Julian Cisneros is a junior in concert band and he shared his opinion on the veterans day concert he explains, “So for starters, I really enjoy the concert. It’s one of my favorite concerts of the year, because we get to honor the service of our veterans, our community, and overall in the nation, as as the individual player. I think one thing I should focus on is, I’ll be honest, stars and stars forever is not an easy song for my instrument, which is euphonium, it has lots of dynamic changes and range issues. So that’s something I’m hoping I can improve on by next year. But as a band entirely well. And some songs like America are beautiful, we struggle with, like, some timing issues. But other than that, I think the band sounded pretty fine.” For years the music students were able to always watch the concert from the audience but much like Vanessa, Julian also expresses his frustration with wanting to see the actual concert instead of having to wait outside for this concert. “it was a little complicated at first, because it felt more like a show, which it was, especially with the whole walking through one door walk out through another. One of the things I didn’t like a lot was we were pushed onto the lobby area of the auditorium, like the room next to the auditorium at East Leyden. And I kind of just, I don’t know, I didn’t really like it, because, for starters, we were really close to the audience, so if we made any noise, they would hear us. Two, they also cut off our access to the nearest bathroom and water fountain. So, we had to walk across another hallway just to find the bathroom or a water fountain. Things that you know are pretty important when it comes to performance day.” Although there are many complaints about not being able to see the concert, out of all the concerts the music department has done, the veterans concert is a fan favorite for Julian. “However, overall, I think the concert was very symbolic. It was very meaningful, especially the set of the table ceremony veterans and hometown heroes. I also really liked the speeches. I hope that next year we could have an even more improved show and one memorable to not only the veterans here at Leyden, but also to everybody who comes and watches.” So if you’re reading this, you should go to the veterans concert next year, hosted by Leyden.