Over various dinner tables, eighth graders sit with teenagers in high school for 8th Grade Night: an annual event where recent band recruits meet kids in their instrumental section. Tiffany Eng was one of those eighth graders, and she remembers being timid and trying to impress the upperclassmen.
Now, as a senior at Hidden Valley High, she believes that band has taught her teamwork skills and how to step outside of her comfort zone. She admits her feelings of being afraid, but notes that becoming an adult will allow her to gain new freedoms and experiences.
“I let my race down by not learning how to play piano,” Eng jokingly remarks as she chuckles, a reference to her Asian heritage.
Instead of chords and harmonies played over ebony and ivory, Eng talks about her experience in marching band and Roanoke Youth Symphony. She plays the trombone, an instrument not often chosen by girls.
Her older brother’s experience, Spencer, as a trombone player in high school affected her decision between taking up clarinet or trombone.
Band isn’t just an important matter to Eng. At a school where football is a large part of the culture, it is inevitable that band becomes a part of school identity.
Band is exhausting but worth every minute, Eng said. “‘One band, one sound,’” she said, quoting the movie Drumline to refer to the family atmosphere that exists in spite of different instrumental sections.
She recalls a memory of her band attending a school game last winter.
“During the game my entire body was numb…my hands were shivering,” she said.
The team wore elf hats and fuzzy scarves they had received from goody bags, huddled together in packs to stay warm.
No matter how much passion Eng has for band, there are moments where it is difficult for her to be motivated because of its repetition.
But she may not play trombone in college, she said.
However, as section leader of brass, Eng wants to spread love of band to everyone else. After all, she asks, if no one else appreciates band, then what is the point in playing?
Still, there is no classical music on her iPod. She listens to Paramore, Taylor Swift and Forever the Sickest Kids.
