Wind Ensemble has been invited to the National Concert Band Festival.

Also known as the Music for All National Festival, it takes place in Indianapolis on March 15th to 17th. A record number of bands auditioned this year, but only several dozen were invited.

“It’s quite an honor,” Band Director Tim Libby said.

Wind Ensemble has 55 students and includes flute, saxophone, bassoon, oboe, horn, and tuba players. They will be flying into Indianapolis on Wednesday, March 14, and arriving home on the following Sunday, the 18th.

The students also look forward to how it will likely improve their ability with their instrument.

Junior Jenny Ha plays trombone in Wind Ensemble, and this is her first year in Wind Ensemble.

“This is my first time going somewhere else with the school out of state… I’m really looking forward to it,” Ha said.

Creek’s Wind Ensemble is a featured band, an even more exclusive position, and is one of only sixteen across the country. However, the audition was fairly simple.

Senior Nina Yee has played in Wind Ensemble, the most selective band, for the past three years. She plays Trombone.

The auditions are not influenced by a schools reputation, Yee explains. “The auditions are all blind – they don’t know which schools are auditioning, they just listen to the recordings and select the schools,” Yee said.

Creek has been invited to the festival once before. “We went in 2014… four years ago, so it’s the second time we’ve been invited,” Libby said.

According to Libby the group’s musical ability greatly improved after the festival in 2014.

While some music or athletic group trips include a lot of entertainment time, this trip will be almost entirely relate to band. However, they will have a dance and banquet for students from other schools to meet. The festival has many great learning opportunities that many in the band, including Libby, look forward to.

“We’re gonna hear some of the best high school bands in the country, so it’s really inspiring, and it gives you a new standard to shoot for,” Libby said.

They will get an hour long clinic with an expert conductor after they perform as well as a class with a professional for their specific instrument.

“The performance and the clinic are what I’m looking forward to,” Libby said.