The tuba section of the Brookings High School Band makes things rumble during a practice this past week in preparation for a concert in Jostad Gym Tuesday evening.

The 96 members of the Brookings High School Marching Band are a hard-working bunch of students. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the BHS Bob Jostad Gym unnder the baton of Director Brian LeMaster, they'll put on a concert that will show how that hard work has paid off.

LeMaster said, "We want the whole public to come out. The brassline and drumline from SDSU's coming. We've got a great show this year called 'Rock Star.' A lot of fun, it's just a chance to wind up the year and show them off a litle bit."

This year's 96-member band is one of the smaller bands LeMaster has directed since 2001, when he assumed leadership of the Brookings High School group. But paying tribute to this year's musicians, he said this year's band is composed of "96 of the best kids we've got here in the school."

Tuesday's concert will also showcase guest performances by the Brass Line and the Drum Line from the South Dakota State University Marching Band – "The Pride of the Dakotas."

LeMaster has unique ties to The Pride. He explained, "We have quite a few alumni in both of those groups up there at SDSU. It's a lot of fun to see those kids continue to go on and continue playing."



Corps of veterans

LeMaster is fortunate in that the musicians he leads in high school often have several years of school-band experience behind them before they don the red-and-black uniforms of the BHS band.

Mollie Hublou, 15, a sophomore who plays alto sax, has been in Brookings school bands since she was in fifth-grade.

"It's just really fun to play," she said. "The band is like a huge family; I love being with them."

Looking to the future, she plans to attend SDSU and keep playing. She won't major in music, but – "I want to be in the Pride," she said, with a big smile.

Megan Struwe, 17, a senior who plays clarinet, has also been playing since fifth-grade. She is not sure where she will attend college. She won't major in music, but she does plan to play in a college band.

She likes being in the Bobcats band because its members are "a lot of really cool people."



Morning wake-up

And band is "a great way to start the day."

A major highlight of Struwe's years in the band has been "being with all the people." While she enjoys playing both in concert and on the move, she added, "I like marching band a lot."

James Sourile, 16, is a junior and trombone player ­– and a band member since fifth grade. He's looking ahead to Crown College, a private Christian school in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, and a major in "either pastoral ministries or music ministries." Either way, he'll play in his college band.

He said, "It's fun. I really love music; and it's a cool way to get along with other people who also like music. It's just fun to play a lot of songs."

Sourile especially likes Hobo Day as a lot-of-fun experience. "It's not as much a competiton for us; it's a lot more fun than a lot of the other ones."

He added, "Competitions can be fun, but a little bit frustrating."

Jackie Meyer, a 14-year-old freshman, is also in her fifth year as a Brookings school band musician – like Hublou, Struwe, and Sourile, she became a band member in fifth grade. She plays alto sax and will continue playing in the Bobcats band for the rest of her years in high school. She likes band competition.

Meyer has already set her sights high for her education after she graduates from Brookings High School: "I want to go to Stanford (University, in Califrnia) and major in pre-med."

While she has no plans for a career in music, she would like to play in the band at Stanford.

"But I would like to continue with (music) for the rest of my life," Meyer added.



Demanding commitment

LeMaster said of his job, "There are always challenges, whether it be with other academics or other activities. It's a little more difficult than it was nine years ago to have these kids balance out their activities.

"But they do a good job: the band kids as do all of our kids here in the school, they do a nice job with their academics and their activities."

For the band members there is a demanding time committment. LeMaster said, "We practice every day of the week; we go 7:30 to 9 (a.m.)" But with the competition season over, the practice pace does lessen a little.



Started in August

He explained, "We started this year Aug. 3., and we go about seven hours a day in the summer all the way up until school starts. Then every day after that it's 7:30 to 9. Competition days are at least 12, 14, 16 hours long, somewhere in there."

The public has one more opportunity to hear and see the band in action before the semester ends.

Then LeMaster and the band will "switch into concert mode in the spring." But the holiday concert will give the public one more chance to see the marching band perform.

LeMaster said that with the coming of the next semester, "this one band splits into two. Then we have two concert bands. Then the jazz band gets going. So we're constantly evolving into a different area of music."

For Tuesday's concert, activity tickets are honored. For adults and other students, tickets are $5.

John Kubal may be reached at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.