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Northern High band nets big performances in D.C.
Parents, students laud departing director
Friday, June 26, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo
The Northern High School band poses for a picture on the day of a performance at the Lincoln Memorial.
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Thanks to parental support, student enthusiasm and a director with a vision, the Northern High School concert band has literally been playing its way through history in the past couple months.
On May 31 it played at the 87th Anniversary of the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial and to mark the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, and on April 29 the band performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, both in Washington, D.C.
"It's really been an amazing thing to see your kids perform like that," said Northern High parent and Northern Music Boosters member Marvin Shoop of the 52-member concert band, in which his daughter Deanna plays the flute.
Much of this success is attributed to band director Brent Paris who organized both trips, which he said were equal in significance.
"We played really, really well at the Kennedy Center and you don't get a much better backdrop than the Lincoln Memorial. They were both equally special," Paris said.
Parents seemed to think so too, according to Northern Music Boosters President Stephanie Basham who said, "I saw more parents come out to both of these events than I've ever seen … It's a pretty big deal if I don't know who [parents] are, so they must have thought it was pretty important."
The band, however, is about much more than elite venues to both the parents and students who have not only watched the program develop, but have also formed close bonds in the process.
"Sometimes band members will just go to each other's houses and hang out … everybody in the band is pretty close," said Deanna Shoop of Dunkirk, who will be a senior in the fall.
She said that while both Washington, D.C., performances were "pretty amazing," what truly moved her and her band mates was when Paris told them that he would not be returning next year. He is planning to attend graduate school.
"We all had tears in our eyes and so did he," said Deanna, who said of Paris, "He's the one who brought us all together … he will really help you if you ask for help."
Deanna's father agreed.
"Brent brought this band from obscurity. They were an average band, now they're winning competitions and playing in a lot of venues that most high schools bands don't get to play in," Marvin Shoop said, adding that Paris is also effective at letting students have some input in the music they play.
Basham echoed him, saying, "I had a daughter who was in the band five years ago and you didn't hear the same things you hear now with my son."
Paris, however, said he hardly could have done it alone and thanked parents for fundraising efforts that "allow me to focus just on making the band better."
He also added that despite the importance of parents and instructors, "The only common denominator in any high school band program is students who work hard."
