COLUMN: ‘I’M SAD, I’M DISAPPOINTED’

Wartburg musician discusses canceled tour

NATHAN STEPHANY, KV NEWS DIRECTOR

The announcement that Wartburg College had made the decision to cancel travel didn’t come as a surprise to me, but as a very disappointing inevitability.

That announcement, of course, included the Wartburg Wind Ensemble and our planned tour of the Midwest. Even that small trip, which was only planned to neighboring states, is too much of a risk in the current climate.

I have now been a part of the Wind Ensemble for three years as a trombone player. Tour has always been a crucial part of that experience in each of my past years. Organizations like the Wind Ensemble like to think of themselves as families. I believe tour and travel is, for any group, a vital part of building up that family. The experience of spending a week in the close company of friends and classmates, some of whom are still strangers, brings these groups closer together.

So, when this latest upcoming tour was cancelled, I felt like something was lost, both for myself and those in the years below me who haven’t had the chance to have that experience yet, and will not for another year.

I’m sad, I’m disappointed, especially for those who won’t get the chance to have this experience again with their Wind Ensemble family.