On Wednesday afternoon, my middle kid and I left for Tampa, FL where he was to rehearse and perform with the Middle School All-State Band for the 75th annual FMEA conference. This was a Pretty Big Deal, as he was only one of two students and the first 7th grader from his school, as well as one of only twelve trumpet players from the entire state of Florida to make it into the Band.

It was amazing. The FMEA conference brings something like 8,000 people to the city of Tampa and features performance ensembles from elementary, middle, and high school grades in all genres, including Choir, Orchestra, Jazz, and Guitar.

I’m kind of bummed I didn’t get to go to all of the concerts, tbh.

My kid’s group had about 17 hours of rehearsals over 3 days to put together their portion of the concert on Friday evening.

Trying out unusual/expensive instruments at the conference was a major highlight of the event.

The kids really learned a lot from their director and they were absolutely fantastic. What an amazing experience for these young musicians! I’m so proud of and happy for him, and, not gonna lie, more than a little jealous haha.

If you want to have a listen to the pieces they played, click here. (Not from my kid’s concert obviously, just collected from YouTube.)