Every year students from all walks of life stand shoulder to shoulder with one thing on their minds, music. It plays such a big role in everyone’s life, yet can often go unnoticed. This does not occur with the dedicated students who spend hours of their day and years of their high school career focusing on making enchanting music for those around them. It is not just the students who love what they do. OHS Band Director Peter Guenther said, “I enjoy watching how kids grow as people when they play music.” Many students in the band come back year after year getting to know their fellow band members. They form a bond uncommon in average students who see each other for only a class or two a year. Guenther said, “It’s about more than just making music, it’s the skills they learn in here that go beyond the art form.”

These skilled students learn to form bonds with people of similar interests and create entire moods and atmospheres with solely music, giving them another chance to discover who they are as a person. Band member and first chair french horn player, Elise Egbert said, “We are just so blessed to have such an incredible program at our school.” There is more to the OHS band program that meets the eye. Most students are familiar with only the pep band that performs during our pep fest, or the marching band they see during the homecoming parade, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. The OHS Jazz Ensemble has been providing some of the uplifting music heard in the commons during the holidays for years. Over 160 students a year find their way into the OHS band room. Even if students did not intend on staying at first, they often find a new home within the notes of a song.

The OHS Orchestra Concert will be performing on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium, featuring heart filling music ready to put all the students in OHS in the truest holiday spirit.