With notable musical backgrounds providing a solid foundation for Matthew Grunert and Yongseong Jeon, two students from Estevan Comprehensive School, it comes as almost no surprise that they’re joining the Saskatchewan Provincial Honour Band.
The Provincial Honour Band is a group of some of the finest young high school musicians from across the province, and is selected annually via submitted auditions. The band is a significant part of the annual Saskatchewan Musical Conference in Saskatoon, which will be held from Nov. 13-15. Each year the band participates in fierce rehearsals in preparation for the final concert on the last day.
“It really is, just an unbelievable experience,” said Matthew, 17, who’s a Grade 12 student trumpet player. This will be the second time he will attend the conference as a member of the provincial Honour Band.
“The best student musicians from all over Saskatchewan come together to play fourth-year university pieces, it’s great,” Matthew said.
Matthew has been playing the trumpet for seven years. His father, Colin Grunert, who passed away a few years ago, was the former band director at ECS. His mother was the band director in Bienfait, Lampman and Hillcrest School in Estevan. She is also the director for the band camp in Kenosee, a camp the Grade 12 student participates in regularly.
Matthew’s path towards becoming an accomplished young musician began in Grade 4, when private lessons quickly ignited a serious passion for music. His father was also a trumpet player and a big inspiration for Matthew, who plays percussion as well.
When asked which instrument he prefers playing, he was quick with his response.
“The trumpet, definitely” he said.
Yongseong, 14, is in Grade 9, and despite joining the Honour Band for the first time, the anxiety and uncertainty one would expect a young musician to have in this situation is in fact, absent.
“This feels like going to Regina Band Camp, which you have to audition for as well,” Youngseong said. “I’m not really nervous since I’ve been going to that since Grade 6.”
He noted, however, that he was surprised to find out he was selected for the Honour Band, especially after an audition he thought went poorly.
“I thought I failed to be honest,” he said. “I just thought I played bad.”
Compounded by the fact that his teacher told him Grade 9’s have a harder time joining the Honour Band, the last thing Yongseong expected was a letter stating that he was going to be in Saskatoon in mid-November.
Yongseong started playing the clarinet in Korea during the fifth grade as part of an extracurricular activity that was available for students at school.
“There wasn’t any band in Korea,” he said.
Interestingly enough, he said it was by chance that he got into clarinet. His mother, who plays piano, initially encouraged him to play the clarinet, assuming it was in fact, the flute. The slight misunderstanding, however, turned out to be a positive, as the clarinet is now Yongseong’s favourite instrument to play. The Grade 9 student also plays alto saxophone and percussion, and was a member of the provincial Junior Honour Band in 2013.
Musical influences for the two musicians largely include family members, private teachers and instructors. Matthew, however, noted his liking for Louis Armstrong, an American jazz-trumpeter from the 1930s to 1960s.
“I’m really into jazz and classical music,” he said, a fact that is emphasized with his involvement in Regina’s Jazz Camp and the school’s jazz band, a group Yongseong is also a part of.
Matthew’s advice for Yongseong and other young musicians who will perhaps one day join the Saskatchewan Honour Band, was simple.
“Practice makes perfect, it totally pays off.”
