Washougal students to perform at North County Honor Band concert

“Band at WHS is pretty much everything to me,” she said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without it. Mrs. Ritter is an incredible director. Every day she teaches me not only about music, but about life. I look up to her greatly as a role model.”

Hein, a senior, serves as the top trumpet player in the school’s jazz band and wind ensemble, and as the president of the WHS band program. He started playing the trumpet when he was in the sixth grade.

“With the trumpet … You can be the melody, the show. (Being in band) really gives you a sense of community,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of people (in school bands) who I consider to be friends. I think if I wasn’t in the band, I would be far worse with my interpersonal skills and leadership skills.”

Jacobsen, a senior, is a member of the school’s wind ensemble, jazz band and pep band, and is the vice president of the WHS band program. She began playing the trumpet when she was in fifth grade.

“(Since then) I’ve learned to listen more, to be more together,” she said. “I joined jazz band sophomore year, and that really challenged me to adapt my sound to jazz and be able to really take more control of my instrument.”

Kneipp, a junior, has been playing the flute for seven years. She’s a member of the wind ensemble and jazz band.

“I just like the sound of the flute,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’ll give that a try,’ and over the years I’ve grown to like it more. I was proud to make symphonic band freshman year. That was a big thing for me because I had always just kind of floated the boat where it brought me. That’s when I decided to take a leap of faith to see if I could make it. And making it into the wind ensemble was good as well.”

Lendvoyi, a sophomore, is a relative newcomer to her instrument; she began playing the flute during the second semester of her eighth-grade year.

“My range has greatly improved,” said Lendvoyi, a member of the school’s wind ensemble. “Knowing how to really play music — not just play notes, but learning about the different levels of volume, the piano and forte, and the crescendoing, (has helped me) get better. I’m getting more confident with the instrument, and improving on my tone quality and sound. Everything’s basically improved.”

Weihl, a senior, has been a percussionist since he was in the sixth grade. He also has experience playing piano and guitar.

“(The drums are) really different than any other instrument, a completely different mechanism,” said Weihl, who plays with the school’s jazz band, wind ensemble and percussion ensemble. “When you’re playing percussion, you get to play so many instruments – you’re not stuck (with one thing) your whole life. You get to make a lot of noise and get a lot of really cool parts. I love everything about music — listening, playing. It’s what I enjoy the most out of life, honestly.”

Perkins, a senior, was introduced to rock music (“mostly Aerosmith,” he said) by his father, and has played the drums for about eight years.

“I really like the personal interpretation that you can put on music because I do a lot of different styles on my own,” said Perkins, a member of the school’s wind ensemble and jazz ensemble. “Just being able to really drive a song, or even writing my own music, being able to change how it sounds, or the mood of the music, through a couple of notes, is pretty amazing.”

Poulsen, a senior, plays drums for Northwest Gospel Church in Camas in addition to his responsibilities for the school’s wind and percussion ensembles.

“Before I could talk, I was always tapping on stuff, making play drum sets out of cups and pillows, and playing with pencils,” Paulsen said. “I started drum lessons when I was in second grade, and I saved up and bought an electric drum set for myself, and I just played and played and played. I could hear stuff and repeat it.”

After a broken arm caused an end to his brief trumpet-playing career, Thacker took up the saxophone as a sixth-grader, starting with alto, then switching to tenor before moving to baritone.

“In middle school, I didn’t ever practice ever,” he said. “Now I practice after school, over and over again, on different parts, either with jazz band or wind ensemble.”

Hayden Zumwalt has been a musician for some time (he started playing the piano as a first-grader), but has found his niche as a bass trombone player.

“With the bass bone, you have such a longer, deeper, lower range, and all the tones are nice and low down there,” he said.

The all-county middle-school band will include Washougal students Avery Berg (alto saxophone), Kyler Buck (clarinet), Justin Bryden (trombone), Lorelie Peck (bass clarinet), Danica Stinchfield (French horn), Jacob Kettelson (euphonium) and Barrett Justis (euphonium).