The crowd was chatty, yet the sound of the instruments going off in unison drowned them out. Once the tuning stopped, the auditorium became silent. Then, conductor DJ Alstadt raised his baton, and the Naperville Central Symphonic Band began performing their first piece.

The Naperville Central Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band and the Wind Ensemble had their first concert of the year on Nov. 7 in the auditorium.

The concert featured three songs from each band, with each having its own unique talent to present to the audience.

“It was great to see everyone, especially the freshman, go through the first concert of the year,” Alstadt said. “I thought a lot of things went great, and some things that we would need to work on.”

While the Wind Symphony and the Symphonic Band had no theme to their songs, the Wind Ensemble had the theme of Veterans Day, as they played in the Veterans Day assembly on Nov. 9.

While each band only performed three songs each, students spent months preparing for the concert.

“When we first get the music, it’s a lot of running through certain segments of songs to make sure we get it right, and towards the end when we get closer to the concert, we do more straight run-throughs of the songs,” senior percussionist Caleb Frank said.

However, because of this preparation, the concert ran smoothly.

The concert started with the Symphonic Band, then the Wind Symphony and the Wind Ensemble last. There was also a guest performance by the Illinois Brass Band, which Alstadt was a member of prior to being a director.

“I felt pretty good about my performance and the bands also played really well,” Andrew Issa said.

The next concert is the Winter Concert in December, where the band, orchestra and choir will all perform.