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player ready...The Elgin High School band department’s end-of-year festivities are going virtual Thursday evening, and the public is invited to watch.
A pre-recorded event of performances, presentations, and more will stream on Facebook and YouTube at 7 p.m. Thursday; the streams can be accessed on elginbandconcert.info.
Elgin’s Director of Bands Robert Sanchez said it is a concert for “honoring our seniors.” Typically, this event is held in person but the shutdown of schools and the stay-at-home order prevented it this spring.
“I felt that the students needed something to keep them grounded,” said Sanchez of continuing the end-of-year event in a virtual format. The band had approximately 130 members this school year, 24 of them set to graduate.
Sanchez said the concert/event will include highlights of band performances this past school year and beyond, presentations, senior recognition, and a performance from Sanchez himself.
Like in past years, Sanchez will also hand out awards to students. Because everything is pre-recorded, Sanchez recorded Zoom calls with the students and their families to get their reactions to receiving the awards.
The band director has been working on this event while juggling e-learning with his classes, virtual band sessions, and helping his son with his own remote learning. His wife, a healthcare worker in a suburban hospital, has also had brushes with coronavirus exposure, he said.
When asked what he hopes viewers get out of the concert, Sanchez said, “I would say the message is twofold. One: we are a community and we still are a community. The second is (students) are preparing to be leaders of this community. This situation is going to be the watershed moment of your life…we have an opportunity here to take advantage of the moment for our betterment.”