Wando Band has been accepted to perform at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in Chicago Dec. 18-21.

This clinic showcases different bands from across the country, including high school bands, community bands, collegiate bands, middle school bands, orchestras and an international ensemble.

“The Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic is an international clinic where music teachers and students and vendors, be it composers and exhibitors all come together each December in Chicago,” Assistant Band Director Lanie Radecke said. “They have this convention over the span of four to five days, and it’s held at McCormick Place. We went through the recording process and we were fortunate to be accepted this time.”

The band submitted its audition tape by recording two different pieces, one being a traditional march and the other being the director’s choice: the “Pathfinder of Panama” and “Southern Harmony.”

“Basically, you record your ensemble,” Radecke said. “We went to the Thornton Center at the University of South Carolina, and recorded some symphonic band.” “We recorded (our pieces) at as high of a quality as possible and as well as we can play it live” Radecke said, “then you submit that to the committee and they go through a hundred or so recordings and start to narrow it down and we were in the smallest group that they chose”.

Being accepted into Midwest is an achievement for Wando Band in itself, “It is incredibly difficult to get in and it’s getting more and more difficult because the quality of ensemble has grown,” she said, “We had a group get in in 2007, and that was an amazing opportunity for our students. But this time I feel like its been even more difficult to submit and be selected.”

With Midwest in December 2019, seniors who were part of the audition process will not be able to perform. “Part of the process is going through who you have to move up and fill in the spots of the seniors,” Radecke said, “and I feel like the band program as a whole is in a place where those spots will be filled and those students are ready to fill those spaces.” Preparing for Midwest will be a scheduling challenge for the band.

“We will start our summer rehearsals for marching band so we will have marching band going on simultaneously to Midwest preparation at the same time,” Radecke said. “Our three other ensembles will be rehearsing during school and we will have percussion and jazz going on so all the normal things we do will be going on with midwest preparation at the same time”. Once band members arrive in Chicago, they will perform a concert for all of those in Attendance.

“We will go up and we will perform for a group of 5,000 to 7,000 people who will be in attendance at the concert,” she said. “They will come listen to us perform, we don’t know the time or day but the performance will be well attended.”

Being a national event, many important people will be attending Wando’s concert, “Anyone who is anyone comes to attend,” she said. “Those people will be there with music teachers and future music teachers who want to hear the concert”.