The Behind The Scenes of the Spain Trip
Lake Shrivastava, Staff Writer
The 2023 Spain trip was a hit among both students and teachers. Many of the participants even agreed that the trip was their favorite part of the year. However, what does it take to get an entire band, orchestra, and choir across the ocean?
Mrs. Cotter revealed that to transport a band internationally, “[They] had to hire a US travel company, which in turn consulted with an international travel company. It was a very long planning process. [They] started planning in the winter of 2021.” Continuing on, she said that the band even had to rent larger percussion equipment (snare, tenor drum, glockenspiel, cymbals, and stands) in Spain.
Jumping in, Mrs. Hale added, “We had to figure out how to get instruments to Dallas, the airline regulations for flying with instruments, the transportation of instruments in [a foreign] country, instrumental rental assigning flights and rooms, helped develop the itinerary, keeping track of students getting passports, paying for the trip,” emphasizing Mrs. Cotter’s point. It’s a lot to do, especially after taking into consideration that all the teachers organizing the trip had to simultaneously work a full-time job.
Even “all of this stress,” Mrs. Cotter declared, “I was impressed at the maturity of some of our students, and it was fun to see some more serious students let loose, try new things, and show new curiosity.” Continuing on, she expressed how proud she was of the band students, and Casady students in general, after watching kids look out for each other, make sure someone had a buddy at dinner, and just be all around good humans.
In a similar vein, Mrs. Hale remarked, “I can tell you, without a doubt, that the band that started the trip was not the same as the band that ended the trip. I saw more camaraderie and maturity than I had ever seen before as we finished our final performance,” also stating her pride in the band in a more roundabout way.
Shifting to the actual music that the band played, Mrs. Cotter admitted, “We wanted to create a diverse program that showcased who we are as a school,” referring to not only the band, but all of the Casady ensembles that performed. In addition to that, she admitted that the directors agreed that they wanted to try and keep the concert around the 45 minute mark, with each ensemble having solo pieces, group pieces, and a final piece with all three ensembles performing together.
Commenting more on the criteria for the band-only piece, Mrs. Hale added, “Our options were limited because of instrumentation and percussion…[the band-only piece] was chosen from the start because we knew what we needed to make it work.” When the Stars Began to Fall, the band-only piece, preformed in Ireland on the past trip, which allowed the directors to gain familiarity with the piece.
Although the Spain trip required much tedious and meticulous planning, it was a huge success among students and teachers alike. Even with all of the fatigue and stress, the band directors were no doubt under, they both agreed it was an amazing trip, and they are excited for the next one.
