North Carolina Senior Marching in U.S. Army All-American Marching Band
digitalsportsnews
| December 29, 2014
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On Saturday, January 3
rd, 2015, Jennifer Heiden, a senior at Green Hope High School in Cary, North Carolina, will be playing with the U.S Army All-American Marching Band. One of 125 students from across the county, Heiden has been selected to play with the prestigious band during half-time for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which features all-star high school football players. When Jennifer’s mother, Stephanie Heiden, woke her up with the news she had been selected, Jennifer said she was “kind of amazed.” “It’s just a really cool experience,” she said. “Only 125 in the entire country get to go. It’s so selective.” The students will have just under a week to play together before the big game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
In the sixth grade, Heiden began practicing the flute. Her mastery of the instrument has led to a multitude of accolades and leadership roles, including woodwind captain of the Green Hope band, being named to the all-district band five times and the all-state band twice. To top it all off, she held the position of first chair in the flute section for the all-state band. Upon mastery of the flute, Heiden moved on to the piccolo, a much smaller and more difficulty instrument to play. However, in the setting of a marching band, the piccolo is easier to play because of its size and can be heard better than the flute. Preparing herself for a career as a band director, Heiden also took up the euphonium, a lesser-known brass horn.
“She’s very driven,” said Brian Myers, Green Hope’s band director for eight years. “She wants to be an education major. She has to know all the different instruments to teach it. We had a conversation early this year for her to get a head start.” He considers Heiden “very deserving" of this accomplishment and is not the least bit surprised that she made the band. "She knows what needs to be done," he said. After she was notified about being selected, she was sent the music the band will play at the game, along with the drill, which tells her where on the field she will need to stand and march to. After memorizing the piece, she was required to send back a video of herself playing the music. Myers has seen Heiden plotting dots on the Green Hope field while she was learning the routine. “It’s a lot harder to do that yourself,” he said. “You don’t see all the people. You just see your place.”
Such a well-rounded instrumentalist as herself, Heiden has set the tone for other students at Green Hope. Myers is proud that she will be representing the school on a national level and hopes that her exposure will inspire other students with a passion for the craft. In the future, she hopes to be a band director like Myers. “Ever since the sixth grade, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” she said. “I like the aspect of being up in front of a group and teaching them and conducting them.” Heiden continues to pursue her passion for classical music and will go on auditions for Michigan and Appalachian State University.
The U.S. Army All-American Marching Band will be nationally televised, airing on January 3
rd, 2015 at 1p.m. on NBC.
