Music education major Dylan Mendoza is used to being the lone tuba player in California State University, Bakersfield’s concert band. But last month he had the chance to perform in an ensemble with five other tuba players from across the western United States.
Mendoza and five other CSUB students were selected to participate in the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Intercollegiate Band as part of the association’s Western/Northwestern Division Conference, which took place March 27-30 in Las Vegas.
“Being able to play with five other tuba players was very interesting and helped me learn how to play when I’m not the only one with my instrument,” Mendoza said. “I’ve always been part of smaller ensembles, so one of the most exciting parts for me was knowing I was going to be in a big one.”
The six music education students were nominated by Dr. Leo Sakomoto, associate music professor and director of instrumental studies at CSUB. The Intercollegiate Band was comprised of more than 100 students from 10 schools and performed five pieces of music, which were conducted by Dr. John Lynch, director of bands at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
CSUB students have only participated in the band once before, in 2019.
“We’re giving our students that opportunity to get out of Bakersfield, get out of our bubble and explore the world,” Dr. Sakomoto said. “It’s not only about learning other people’s perspectives but also really celebrating the similarities we all have — our love of music.”
The students largely paid for the trip themselves, although the Dean’s Office in the School of Arts and Humanities did contribute $100 per student to help offset costs.
Jaison Miles, who plays the clarinet, said he was surprised when he was told he was being nominated for the Intercollegiate Band but was excited about the opportunity.
“It very much came out of left field, but I was very happy to hear that I was nominated for something like this,” he said. “I was looking forward to the challenge of preparing and performing these five pieces in the span of three days. That sounded very appealing to me.”
Trumpet player Anthony Hicks was excited to play with a group of students with a high skill level and dedication to music. He enjoyed seeing the varying approaches and perspectives of the other trumpet players, especially those majoring in performance.
“Seeing some of their warmup strategies, the difference between me being an education major and them being a performance major and how that correlates to how we play was very interesting,” he said.
Mendoza said it was very gratifying to see all their hard work pay off when they finally got to perform in front of an audience.
“Being able to share everything we had put together, being able to showcase that to everyone at the conference was very special,” he said.
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