I couldn’t believe the number of cars at the Belmont High School parking lots and the neighborhood streets, and the crowds of neatly dressed students carrying instrument cases, proud parents in tow, streaming towards the Wenner Field House from every direction on Wednesday, Dec. 14.

Bandorama brought together all band students in Belmont’s Public Schools: the fourth and fifth graders participating in all-town beginning and advanced bands at the Saturday morning music school, the 6th-, 7th- and 8th-grade Chenery Middle School bands and the Belmont High School symphonic winds and the jazz collective.

An annual Belmont tradition now in its 40th year, Bandorama is a unique community event that allows the youngest participants in Belmont’s distinguished music program to perform in front of a large audience that includes older, more accomplished musicians.

A yearly event that brought together 450 students across the grades, Bandorama shows our youngest musicians the reasons to practice their instruments so they too can strive to achieve the mastery consistently demonstrated by the older players.

Family members sacrifice comfort as we sit on cold, hard wooden bleachers with the hope of catching a glimpse of our own child amongst the sea of band students seated on the floor. The little discomfort serves to remind me of how hard the music teachers work to give our children an invaluable gift of music and to bring this amazing event to us year after year.

– Article by Irina G Rosenblum