Jemtegaard band performs at Trail Blazers game

Jemtegaard Middle School music students delivered a clutch performance on the biggest of stages last month.

The school’s wind ensemble played three songs from center court at the Moda Center in Portland before the start of the Portland Trail Blazers’ game against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, March 29.

“Even though it was only seven minutes, to be on the floor at an NBA game is a thrill,” said Jemtegaard music instructor Jennifer Hodapp. “It was just a huge deal for the kids — and me as well. It was a great experience for them.”

The 85-student ensemble played three of its most well-known “pep songs” — the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black,” Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll” and The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.”

“They were nervous, but excited at the same time,” Hodapp said. “They really performed well. (Their performance) was tight. They were in tune. They just killed it. They absolutely killed it. Season ticket holders said to me, ‘This is one of the best bands we’ve ever heard pregame.’ The kids started to float pretty high with pride and satisfaction (when they heard those compliments). I just get a good feeling every time I think of their performance and how good it was. I was so proud of them, and I’m proud to be their teacher.”

Hodapp said the students “were super proud” of their performance as well.

“I don’t think an experience like this could be had again,” she said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, really.”

Jemtegaard bands delivered pre-game performances at the Moda Center three times in the late 2010s before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I got a phone call from a guy named Alec at the Moda Center, maybe in 2016 or 2017,” Hodapp said. “He said, ‘We want to get a bunch of middle-school and high-school bands to come and play pre-game. Would you be interested?’ I said, ‘Are you kidding me? Yeah.’ I had to send them an audio-slash-video recording of the band playing, and then he got back to us and said, ‘Yep, you’re good to go.'”

Bands have to be selected by the Trail Blazers to perform on an annual basis, according to Hodapp, so Jemtegaard students aren’t guaranteed to receive additional opportunities to display their talents at the Moda Center in future years.

But Hodapp thinks it’s a likely possibility, based on the reputation that the school has earned and the quality of its performers.

“It is exciting because you have to be invited to come back, so if we didn’t perform well, obviously, they wouldn’t want us back,” she said. “This will be an every-year deal (for us). My younger two bands, they can’t wait (to go). The talent pool is wonderful in Washougal, so I have a ton of great kids, and we make great music.”