About a dozen kids armed with instruments like trumpets and clarinets have been rehearsing at an Anchorage school, practicing for the city’s upcoming Juneteenth celebration.
Inside the multi-purpose room at Dr. Etheldra Davis Fairview Elementary on a recent day, the sounds of their wind and brass instruments flowed with the booming bass drum and the rat-a-tat of snares.
The Juneteenth Anchorage Marching Band Camp aims to teach the young musicians, ranging in age from elementary to high school, what it takes to be in a marching band. The camp will culminate with a performance Saturday at Anchorage’s Juneteenth Celebration, alongside a local dance team.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday commemorating the day that the last Black slaves were freed in Texas on June 19, 1865, a couple months after the end of the Civil War.
The camp is centered around a style of marching band that is deeply tied to historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, organizers said.
“You cannot have HBCU culture without a marching band,” said Carlton Wright, director of bands for Alabama A&M, an HBCU in Huntsville.
Wright is one of several instructors who flew to Anchorage to run the camp. It’s very common for people to show up to HBCU football games just to see the band, he said.
“When the football game is over, the fifth quarter is beginning,” Wright said. “And all the audiences, they will come down and stand right in front of the band and just check out the fifth quarter, which is a battle between the home band and the visiting band.”
Curtis Akeem, another instructor, has led camps like this across the country. Tying the camp to Juneteenth is important, he said, as it connects the freedom that the holiday represents with the educational freedom that HBCUs brought to many Black Americans.
“It gave us a place to be educated when we wasn't allowed to go anywhere else and be educated, which overlaps with us celebrating the freedom that came with education,” Akeem said.
Akeem grew up in Georgia and said getting involved in band as a kid led to opportunities he couldn’t see at the time, including traveling to Alaska. And while the marching band camp is rooted in Black culture, Akeem said he’s pleased to see that not all of the kids at the camp are Black.
“I love seeing all the different cultures coming together, because it shows the support for what we do,” Akeem said. “It shows that people aren't shying away from liking what we do, whether it's HBCU band, whether it's just, to be honest, allowing their children to come and be taught from us.”
Darla Roundtree, 10, is one of the younger kids at the camp, though she’s been drumming with her family for a few years.
“I play djembes,” she said. “They're, like, hand drums from Africa.”
Roundtree was playing bass drum at the camp. She said she’s happy that she met a bunch of new people through the camp, but she was a little nervous for Saturday’s performance.
“I have the loudest drum out of every drum and saxophone and stuff like that here, so I’m just trying not to mess up,” Roundtree said.
For 17-year-old Kristina Kagerer, the camp was a new way to perform in a band. She plays the trombone and has played in concert band at South Anchorage High School. Performing in the marching band is a lot more physical and less rigid compared to other bands she’s been in, Kagerer said.
“It's a lot louder, first of all,” she said, laughing. “And there's a lot more groove to it. I feel like when you play in, like, a normal concert band, it's much more like, ‘Oh no, you're gonna stick to this form, and you're gonna stick to this certain note and chords,’ kind of thing.”
Keenan Lawson, 16, is one of the snare drummers and has been drumming for about four years. He said he appreciates the opportunity to learn from professionals about the different options he has pursuing music.
“I get to, like, actually be in a marching band, and get some experience off of that, in case I actually want to do it later on,” Lawson said.
Organizer Jasmin Smith said Lawson’s takeaway is the point of the camp. Beyond the Juneteenth celebration, she said one of her goals is to get a group of kids to travel to the Lower 48 to watch some collegiate marching bands perform. She also wants to foster marching bands in Alaska, potentially through a weekly club.
“Our big, big goal is having this build up to a battle of the bands next year,” Smith said. “So we're trying to, like, plant the seeds. So basically, have this style of music and bands be consistent up here, but then have something big for them to look forward to.”
As the band prepared for their big debut Saturday, 15-year-old trumpet player Julian Gunther-Chavez said he was excited to perform for the community at a large celebration.
“I'm ready to see how people react to it,” Gunther-Chavez said. “I'm ready to, you know, use my skills for good. Juneteenth is obviously important, and I'm happy to be contributing in my own way to it.”
Anchorage’s Juneteenth celebrations will be held on Saturday and Sunday, June 14 and 15, at the Delaney Park Strip.
