During the summer after her fourth-grade year, junior Deana Wilson discovered her love for the saxophone while taking lessons.
“I knew that right away I wanted to play an instrument because my mom was heavily into music,” Wilson said.
Wilson credits her mother, who pushed her to keep playing, with much of her success
“It was a mental challenge, just trying to make myself get up and practice my saxophone,” Wilson said.
Wilson felt she grew the most in eighth grade, after being influenced by her band director, at Lincoln Junior High, Jeff Kleinmaier.
“[Kleinmaier] gave me so many opportunities that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve without him,” Wilson said. “He pushed me to push myself.”
Kleinmaier supported Wilson throughout middle school, motivating her to take on difficult challenges to achieve more significant outcomes.
“She liked the challenge, she seemed to take that and run with it,” Kleinmaier said.
Wilson highlights that she became more passionate about the saxophone, due to how much she played it.
“As the years went on I fell more in love with the instrument,” Wilson said.
Despite her passion for music, Wilson found band increasingly difficult and the motivation to grow and learn did not come easily in her freshman year.
“I [didn’t] think I [wanted] to [audition], and that lack of motivation is what kept me out of ensemble,” Wilson said.
Still, Wilson took full advantage of Central’s extracurricular band programs, eventually finding a home in the Jazz Studio Orchestra.
“I definitely have a hierarchy of things that I prioritize when I’m practicing, and JSO is at the top of that,” Wilson said.
Wilson began to think about the ensemble as a whole, and focused more on specific details to enhance her abilities of playing.
“Saxophone is one of those instruments that’s the easiest to start to learn how to play,” one of Centrals band directors DJ Alstadt, said. “But it’s the hardest to learn how to play in tune.”
Wilson said that with Alstadts’ guidance, she is making progress in her musical development and journey.
“As I got better, my focus became more fine tuned, and I was thinking more about balance in the ensemble, playing with characteristic tone, and tuning was one of the big things too,” Wilson said.
In the song “Minuano”, composed by Pat Metheny, Wilson has to relearn the clarinet, which she started playing in fourth grade. Switching between the alto sax and the clarinet is a challenge, Wilson said, but one that’s worth it.
Alstadt attributes much of Wilson’s success to her persistence and strong work ethic.
“Whatever Deana chooses to do, I’m absolutely convinced she’s going to be great at it, because she knows how to practice,” Alstadt said.
In the near future, Wilson hopes to add another instrument to her repertoire by learning and expanding her abilities on different kinds of saxophones.
“A big dream of mine has always been to play the soprano saxophone,” Wilson said.
For many young musicians at Central, joining Wind Ensemble is a coveted achievement. Reflecting on her journey, Wilson can now appreciate just how far she’s come.
“Looking back and seeing myself years ago, dreaming of wanting to sit with these people and playing in the ensemble, and then finally being able to do that is so fulfilling,” Wilson said.
