Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Golder College Prep has been reestablishing its band as a force for student and community joy. Last school year, the band faced adversity with safety restrictions, remote learning days, and COVID outbreaks. They had to give performing a break and focus solely on music theory.

Fast forward to the start of this school year and “band” was just four interested students watching marching band videos and analyzing them with Golder’s band director, Laurenté Oby. Now, Golder College Prep can boast about having a full marching band of 64 students. The band grew so quickly this year in large part due to Director Oby’s passion and dedication to encouraging musicianship at Golder.

“I decided to meet the students where they were. I began incorporating their music selections into rhythm studies and theory,” Oby said, “Once they began to connect those studies to what they like, they became more interested in music. When we began playing instruments, I mixed in a few of their songs into our repertoire and showed them college bands performing their favorite songs.“

This built the students’ interest and curiosity in the marching band world, Oby said, and was the driving force to the growth of the band program.

“They’ve completely taken leadership of the program and made it their own under my guidance,” Oby said.

Oby continued, saying that the students built a solid family and established a beautiful “each one teach one” legacy that fosters the motto Oby brought to the Golder band: Leadership Through Musicianship.

For Fabian, a 10th grader at Golder and section leader for the tuba players, Director Oby’s guidance has really helped him grow in both his musicianship and leadership.

“I didn’t like how I struggled on my instrument when I played and then listened to others play better than me,” Fabian said, “This year, I’ve gotten a lot better and I have gained so much confidence. I have also earned a leadership role, so I have the opportunity to teach the beginner students from my experience and help them to get better.”

Long-time student band members have loved how the band program has grown so much this year.

“Last year, band felt like individuals that needed to get comfortable with each other. Now, band feels like a family leaving a legacy!” Destiny, a junior and euphonium player said, “I love the consistent upbringing of talented young musicians and dancers in our program.”

A big part of this year’s band season was the Raptor Rumble Battle of the Bands. This was the Golder band’s first public appearance in a large venue and their first battle. They came in second place, despite being new to the scene and not having a football field to practice on.

“The battle was a full circle moment because I competed in this battle in high school. The spirit award we won was named after Christopher Tedeschi, my band director in high school,” Director Oby said.

Oby and the rest of the staff at Golder are excited to see how much the band grows next school year as well.

Make sure to follow Golder College Prep on social media to keep up with the awesome things happening there when we head into the new school year:

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