By: Bianca Pando, Entertainment Editor

The Music Department at Mills High School prepares for their up-coming performance for Mills students, families, and the Millbrae community set to be on December 13, 2024.

As December rolls around, many students are preparing for the exciting winter break, but our music department here at Mills is working towards something else. This, of course, would be none other than the annual Winter Concert held before the Holidays, from the Jazz band, Concert Band, Orchestra, and Choir programs. 

Students are only exposed to the end result, but the process behind this concert is a long, stressful, but fulfilling one. 

The day of a student in Jazz Band starts early in the morning, at 7 am, in something known as period 0. During this time, the band plays together, in order to try to fix anything that may be sounding off. This is commonly done throughout the day, some even staying after school to continue practicing. 

Fanny Montes(11), the trumpet section leader for Jazz Band describes how practice ends up taking all day. “We practice in the morning when we come. If it’s an even day, we’ll practice during flex.” She follows up by saying that they all practice whenever they get the chance to, such as brunch, lunch, and even afterschool. “It’s like an all day practice, trying to improve and apply what our director tells us,” Montes recalls. 

As for Band, the days leading to the concert are usually prepared with a whole band practice, and then splitting off into instrumental groups, referred to sectionals, to hound in on their part and fix any small mistakes.  

Junior tenor-saxophone player, Milo Stretton(11), provides details about what a typical sectional would look like. “We practice the part that sounds off when we play together as a band, and our solos using a metronome and listening to the recording Mr. G gives us.” He believes that it is very important to take it slow and to emphasize  listening to each other to blend well. 

The overall feeling that many musicians have towards the concert vary from excitement and nervousness to the pressure to perform well. Montes adds “Yes, it’s stressful, but it’s stressful because we want it to be good.” Alto saxophone player, Karthik Joshi(10), believes that all the hard work pays off. “It’s worth it to go out there and play for your friends and during brunch or lunch, they come out and compliment you,” he expresses. 

Besides the many hours of practice to ensure the piece sounds well, there is also the organization of the program. Bianca Santos (12), the Music President, spends many hours balancing the planning of the program with also being part of the Orchestra. “Right now we are making the set list, and we have to put all the programs together,” she comments. Santos said that right now, the music student council is focusing on picking front-curtain acts, to make the transition behind programs smoother, ensuring that there is just enough time for them to set up, while also not taking too long.  

Finally, the Mills Music Director, David Gregoric, gave his perspective on how he has been organizing this program. By hosting band practice and providing feedback and improvements that the musicians can make, Mr. G makes sure that everything sounds great by the time of the concert. Even when putting together what songs are going to be played, he wants to make sure that everyone enjoys the concert, from conceptual pieces to old Christmas classics. “I want everyone to come and see the hard work and dedication that the students in the Mills Music Department have. It truly brings the community together you know,” Mr. G expresses. 
Even with all its challenges and hardships, everyone in the Music Program is truly excited to perform something amazing for the school. Being one of the two concerts performed during school creates a huge amount of expectation to do well in order for everyone to enjoy. And so, while watching the up-coming performance, we must also keep in mind all the hard work, and the stressful moment that led up to it as well.