The bands at Olathe East have enjoyed several high profile performances over the last 10 years.  The band has traveled to New York City and performed at the historic Lincoln Center in Avery-Fischer Hall. This performance included a world premiere performance of an Andrew Boyson Jr. commission piece for Olathe East called Little White Lines. It also included a performance of Cloudburst guest conducted by the composer Eric Whittacre. 

In March of 2015, Olathe East had the honor of holding the first ever high school band concert at the beautiful new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Helzberg Hall. This performance was a send-off concert for the bands performances in the historic Symphony Center home of the Chicago Symphony. This performance was part of the Chicago International Music Festival.  All three bands have consistently been awarded one ratings at the annual KMEA Large Group State Festival.

 

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Concert Band

This is the freshmen concert ensemble for students who do not march as freshmen.  The majority of freshmen in band at Olathe East are in this ensemble.  The focus of this group is a year-round indoors concert band.

 

In many respects this is very similar to their band experience in middle school.  This is a non-audition group, you simply enroll and show up in August! Key differences between middle school band and this group is that they do absolutely no marching (not even the Old Settler’s Day Parade) and they are not required to turn in any practice slips. With these differences in mind, many freshmen students find this group to require less time than their middle school band required. This group gives the students the opportunity to get adjusted to high school life and their new band directors, while continuing to develop on their instrument in a low pressure environment. 

 

 

Symphonic Band

For student in grades 10-12 this is a non-audition group. Once again, simply sign-up for this group during enrollment and you will be enrolled. 

Freshmen must audition for this ensemble.

 

 

 

Wind Ensemble

This is the premier concert band at Olathe East.  Students grades 9-12 wishing to participate in this ensemble will be required to do a live audition in the spring. This group is highly competitive and requires significant individual practice time outside of the school day. In addition, most of the members of this ensemble take private lessons on their instrument.

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