Students from ten Nebraska colleges got together to form the Nebraska Intercollegiate Band last Thursday and Friday in Lincoln. Seven of Wayne State’s own were part of the 75-student band and performed a concert in UNL’s Kimball Hall on Friday evening.

“It’s just so much fun to play good music with good players,” Jake Anderson, tuba player, said. “Playing with students from different schools is an exciting new experience.”

Students were nominated by their directors and then selected based on the needs of the band. Each instrument section is balanced so that certain instruments don’t outweigh others.

David Bohnert, Director of Bands at Wayne State, coordinated the event this year. NIB was different for him compared to other years because WSC was also involved in the Nebraska State Bandmaster’s Association convention on Thursday, according to Bohnert.

In addition to the NIB concert Friday evening, the seven WSC students selected to perform at NIB also performed in the NSBA concert with the WSC Wind Ensemble the night before.

“Overall, it made for a great weekend full of amazing music,” Jerod Kohler, senior trombone player, said. “It was exciting how quickly everything came together.”

The clinician for the weekend was chosen by the band directors involved in planning the event. Dennis Johnson, Director of Bands and Orchestras at Murray State University in Kentucky, was the conductor for the concert.

“We learned a lot from him and got some great ideas for our band,” Ashley Oltman, saxophone player, said.

Johnson was skilled in getting everyone together and streamlining the tuning process, according to Kohler, Anderson and Oltman. Because he was able to express what he wanted the band to do, tuning the band was made easier.

“Each clinician brings something new to the table,” Bohnert said. “So every year is just a little bit different; new people give each year a different sound.”

Going back and forth from two different rehearsals was tiring on the body and the mind, but well worth the effort, according to Kohler, Anderson and Oltman.

“I was able to take some of the things I learned at the NIB rehearsal and bring them over to the WSC rehearsal,” Anderson said. “It was just a great time to make music.”