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WORTHINGTON -- Adan Lopez Hinojosa is a large young man who, not surprisingly, uses his strength and bulk to throw shot and discus during the high school track and field season. He also has a cultured side, so he holds a trumpet for the marching band at Worthington High School.
Hinojosa, who will be a senior at WHS next fall, began playing the trumpet when he was a middle schooler in the fifth and sixth grades. He’s played trumpet ever since, and he says he likes the instrument because it’s “noticeable.”
He adds: “It’s just very high-pitched, and it’s like, it’s just there.”
Indeed, it’s hard to miss the trumpet in any musical performance. Trumpets are loud and brassy. Their sound tends to pierce through anything else that may be going on at the time.
It’s fun to watch trumpet players when they’re in action. The instrument requires a good amount of forced air, so the player must have a lot of wind that he or she can summon quickly. Trumpet players are cool.
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Hinojosa, who also works construction in the summer, is a section leader in band. Section leaders help others in the band. Some band members might need help with their marching. Others might not be quite sure about their notes. Basically, said Adan, section leaders must be prepared to help fellow band members, other section leaders, and even the commander.
And the marching? Well, it’s a lot easier to listen to marching band music than to do the marching.
Those who have not participated in marching band are probably not well schooled in the amount of time and patience it takes just to practice. It takes time and effort for so many people to make all the coordinated moves together and on cue. And, oh, by the way: Ever watched a marching band member scorch in the hot sun of a parade? Ever seen the streaks of sweat roll down their faces? Right.
Hinojosa enjoys the parades. A couple of the traditional marches take place in Luverne and in Worthington, for King Turkey Day. This year the WHS band will go to Cuero, Texas, for another march. When Adan was a freshman, the band went all the way to Atlanta, Ga., to play at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and then later in a parade.
The Trojan trumpeter is also coming off a good year in track and field, and looking forward to one more successful year in that sport.
The Globe interviewed Adan for this week’s Drill feature. You can see the video online at www.dglobe.com . Here’s a sample of the interview:
QUESTION: What are some of the interesting things about marching in a band?
ANSWER: “I do like marching and everything. I find it really exciting, something fun to do. You gotta be on your feet at all times, especially during parades. Stuff happens unexpectedly, so you have to be able to adjust with that. Whether it be something big or something small.”
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QUESTION: Can you give examples?
ANSWER: “We’ve had parades where people pass out, actually, or have panic attacks. Some funny situations would probably be like, my freshman year, half of a clarinet fell during a performance, and one of the judges had to pick it up and give it back to them. My freshman year, too, we had a senior, his shoe came off during the parade and he just kept marching like that.”
QUESTION: How would you assess your junior track and field season?
ANSWER: “I do shot and disc. I mainly lean a lot more towards disc because in shot I’m not the best at it. This year it was pretty good. I jumped about 30 feet with my PRs. I started the season off pretty good. We went to a True Team state meet up in Stillwater and I placed second. I lost by two inches. It was a very good year and I’m hoping next season to break the school record for discus.”
