Carnegie Hall, here they come: St. Anthony High School band heads for the big time

It’s been a “crazy year,” said St. Anthony Junior-Senior High school band director Everett Yamashita.

Well, the idea itself sounds a bit outlandish — a band from a small Maui Catholic high school playing Carnegie Hall. But it’s going to happen, and on April Fool’s Day yet.

The 40-plus musicians of the Wailuku school’s symphonic band are heading to New York to perform in the National Band and Orchestra Festival April 1 on the same stage Judy Garland sang and the Beatles played.

Ever since Yamashita announced the lofty goal last year, it’s been months of rehearsals, often twice-daily, and the difficult but obligatory fundraising.

But it has all been “an incredible experience,” the bandmaster said.

“The support we’ve received from the parents, administration, alumni, and local businesses and supporters, has been amazing,” he said by email to the Hawaii Catholic Herald. “I never imagined or realized how strong the St. Anthony and Catholic community is. They’ve reached out to help us in so many ways that I’m forever grateful.”

The band treated its home supporters to a mahalo prelude performance of its Carnegie concert March 11 in St. Anthony Church Center in Wailuku.

“I do get chicken skin thinking about actually performing in Carnegie Hall,” Yamashita said. “It’s surreal just imagining standing on the same stage as so many legendary musicians.”

The band’s playlist is expected to include numbers ranging from First Suite in E-flat by Gustav Holst to the Hawaii 5-0 theme.

Besides two public performances, the students will take in the requisite tours of New York landmarks and museums, plus some big city-style fun.

The chaperones and adults joining the trip include principal Patricia Rickard.

The band program has come a long way since Yamashita picked up its baton in 2007, growing from a handful of students to over 60 today, more than a third of the entire student body.

Ninth grade bass clarinetist Amelia Imada knows about Carnegie Hall from the National Public Radio show “From the Top” which features young musicians, though she never imagined herself as one of them.

“I never thought I would be one of those kids that get to perform where so many good musicians got to play,” she said.

“The band has been working very hard,” she said. “Knowing that the trip is so close is extremely exciting.”

Ninth grader Micah Leval, who plays the alto sax, says he’s nervous, but confident the band will do well.

“I have faith in my fellow band members as well as Mr. Yamashita,” he said, calling the performance a “once in a lifetime experience.”

“Being invited to play in the same concert venue that was once use by music icons such as Bon Jovi and the Beatles is a huge honor,” he said.