Niwot Band has a "Fantasmic" Disney World trip

Departing on Saturday, March 16, and returning home on Wednesday, March 20, the Niwot High School Symphonic Band ventured down to Orlando, Florida, to experience the "Most Magical Place on Earth."

Forty-two students, two directors, and eight chaperones got to experience Disney magic in ways not many people do as a part of their Disney vacations.

Saturday morning, students and chaperones met behind Niwot High School at 3:30 a.m. to catch a bus to Denver International Airport for a flight originally scheduled to depart at 6:45 a.m. Despite an unusual series of events, everyone made it safely to Orlando early that afternoon to check-in to Disney's All-Star Music Resort and then made their way to Disney Springs, Disney's public shopping and entertainment district, on Sunday for a memorable musical event.

The NHS Symphonic Band had passed the audition to perform at Disney Springs where they played a concert of four pieces: "Marching Down Broadway," "Mancini Magic" (a medley of pieces originally written by Henry Mancini), "Solamente Una Vez," and "Pixar Movie Magic" (a medley of Pixar tunes).

One student, Sanjana Kaushik, said that the concert was "definitely the highlight of the trip...We put so much work into the pieces we played [with multiple after-school rehearsals and time spent in class]....Being able to use our playing abilities at a place like Disney is such a dream and something I, personally, will treasure forever."

The ensemble also had the opportunity to participate in a backstage "Soundtrack Session" where the ensemble worked with a professional clinician in a true-to-life recording experience. He helped students work through and understand the process musicians undergo to audition for Disney and how little time they have to rehearse a piece before performing, and how to "turn on our musik-making brains" earlier in the process of learning music.

Leo Coble, a flute player with the Cougar band, spoke to the impact this recording session had on him. "The clinician really hammered home the fact that we are really hard on ourselves. Music will never be perfect, because when it is, it sounds robotic and gross. Mistakes will happen. That's what makes music so undeniably human." Coble also said that after this experience, they've now considered working at Disney, which was never something that would have ever been considered before this opportunity.

While the trip had heavy educational purposes including performing for a large public crowd and understanding the backstage mechanisms of professional Disney musicians, the band also enjoyed time spent as guests in the various theme parks.

On Sunday, after the Disney Springs concert, students experienced the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (more commonly known as EPCOT) to see the many countries around the World Showcase and experience rides like Living With The Land, Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Soarin', Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, and its latest attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

Monday, students went to Hollywood Studios after their recording session to experience more fun rides and live entertainment such as Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, Frozen Sing-Along, Toy Story Land, and the biggest hit of the day, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

Tuesday, students mostly spent the day in Magic Kingdom. The trip concluded with a half day at Disney's Animal Kingdom, where many students saw a baby elephant on the Kilimanjaro Safari, reminiscent of the song "Baby Elephant Walk" they played in the medley piece "Mancini Magic."

Many students also highlighted the impact of the Disney fireworks display every night and the strong emotions felt all week through song, camaraderie and visually.