Con Spirito received a brand new set of brass instruments and had invited Beatrix’ to join the celebration of this glorious event. The corps gathered a bit earlier than usual, and at 11:00 the busses left for Joure. For some members this was the first ever Beatrix’ bus ride and for others it was simply wonderful to be ‘on the road’ again. After a short detour through the farmland Beatrix’ finally arrived at 13:00. There was a warm welcome with coffee, tea and traditional Frisian ‘sugar bread’. The truck was unloaded and the members were ready to begin.

The various sections of the corps each went to their own rehearsal area. The drumline worked on Movement V and the two hornlines enjoyed a joint warm-up session. It was great to have such a large group of brass players and they produced a good sound too. The group played chord progressions and various choral pieces.

After a short break Beatrix’ was reunited to put Movement V into ensemble for the first time. This happened on a tight schedule, but had to be done in order to have all the show music in place before Easter camp. That meant that a piece of more than 100 bars had to be put together in less than an hour. Through hard work and concentration this was accomplished. Special compliments go out to the battery, who were only able to start working on Movement V the Wednesday before. Eventually, on March 20th at 16:45, Beatrix’ successfully played the very first full run of Wicked.

After the run the moment was there for Con Spirito: they would receive their new instruments. The hornline members were called forward and a minivan drove into the hall. After a short speech with words of thanks the van was unloaded. The members were each given a brand new horn. The instruments looked stunning. They were shiny, the mechanisms completely intact and running smoothly and everything was packed in scratchless cases.

After a short warm-up and some time to acclimatize to the new gear, Con Spirito performed a few pieces. After that, Beatrix’ hornline joined in and the music that had been rehearsed earlier that day was played.

After a day of hard work and the short ceremony and performance it was time to retire to the bar. There was time for drinks and snacks and members and staff evaluated a magnificent day. Even though for many the moment came too early, it was time to leave. The bus ride home was a cheerful one and it was clear that ‘summer mode’ was starting to kick in for Beatrix’. All in all this was a great day, and Beatrix’ is now more than ready for Easter camp!