Twelve-year-old Qing Lu will remember this Veterans Day as more than just a tribute to citizens who served in the United States Armed Forces.
She will remember it as the day she received her first clarinet onstage, with the Gainesville Community Band sitting behind her and her band director standing nearby.
Lu, a seventh-grade clarinet player at Lincoln Middle School, was awarded a clarinet that was sponsored by Great Southern Music at the James B. King Veterans Day Concert at the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday.
Since King’s 2006 death, a deserving Alachua County middle school band student has been awarded a memorial clarinet in his honor.
King was a former member of the United States Marine Band, and he played in the Gainesville Community Band for 26 years. His wife, Joy King, is a clarinetist in the band and handed the award to Lu.
“I was really surprised and shocked because I thought somebody else would get it,” Lu said. “I’m just really happy.”
She is a member of the symphonic band at Lincoln Middle School. She said she is preparing for the All-County Band auditions in December.
“She participates in class and does everything that’s asked of her,” band director Todd Eckstein said. “She’s a neat kid.”
Apart from Lu’s recognition, the concert also comprised 10 patriotic pieces including “The Untitled March,” “Heritage of Freedom” and “Armed Forces Salute.” More than 200 people attended the concert — including Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, Army and Air Force veterans — who were encouraged to stand up for recognition.
Victorina Basauri has attended the concert for the past four years, and she said she is always touched by the acknowledgment of the veterans in the audience.
Her son was in the Marines and died nine years ago.
“I’m very thankful that these musicians do it,” she said. “Of course, I wasn’t going to cry, but I cried.”
Basauri said she thinks it’s wonderful the band honors not only the veterans but also aspiring musicians.
“They do it for the future musicians — the little kids in school,” she said. “They’re very thoughtful.”
Geof Gowan, trombone player and IT manager for UF’s College of Public Health and Health Professions, said the award is important because middle school is when most
kids in the area start playing instruments.
“The idea is to encourage somebody at the beginning of their career,” Gowan said, “to find a bright, responsible student and give them an instrument for as long as they play, and hopefully that will be for a very long time.”
