The Lake Nona High School Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2019. This honor came when band director Monica Leimer filled out an application listing the accolades the band had received. Leimer also had to submit three recordings of the band in concert. Leimer has been the band director for five years at Lake Nona High and 17 years total. The Wind Ensemble is comprised of about 50 of the high school’s top student musicians.
A typical week for the Wind Ensemble consists of rehearsals on Wednesday afternoons for two hours in addition to rehearsing daily in class. Leimer mentioned that occasionally the school brings in guest conductors from universities.
The length and details of the performance at Carnegie Hall have yet to be determined, but the actual Wind Ensemble show is part of the National Band and Orchestra Festival. There will be world-renowned judges providing feedback and a clinic on the school’s performance. This means the seats will be jam packed. Students have been preparing for this moment for quite some time.
“The students are constantly working to achieve new heights in their music making. To perform on stage at Carnegie Hall is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Leimer said. For those students and families involved, the ensemble will travel to New York City for a week in April 2019. There will be sightseeing in the city as well as attending cultural events for the group, in addition to the Carnegie Hall performance.
Leimer would like everyone to know about opportunities to see the ensemble perform before they head off to the Big Apple. “The week before the trip, we will present a send-off concert for the community free of charge. We also hope to live stream our performance for our supporters back home.”
The Wind Ensemble will be seeking community support to help ensure that all of the students are able to go on the trip regardless of their financial situation. Anyone who is interested in making a tax-deductible scholarship donation should email Monica Leimer at monica.leimer@ocps.net.
