Que the sound of bright trumpets, rumbling tubas, and sharp drums as Nānākuli High and Intermediate School welcomes a new band teacher, Joseph Powell.
Powell takes over a band program that was beginning a revival under former director, Tate Sakamoto, who resigned at the end of last school year to perform in the Marine band.
Powell grew up in Arizona with a family full of musicians. In middle school and high school he did band and choir. Wanting to continue his musical journey, he decided to earn a degree in music, accompanied by certificates in Tesol, Political Science, Secondary Education, and an emphasis in minors at Birmingham Young University (BYU) Hawaii.
“Ever since the first time that I was actually in a band class, which was in sixth grade, I just loved it, it was so much fun,” said Powell, “My teacher . . ., she’s the best and is the reason why I stuck through with it all the way until now and now I’m a teacher just like her.”
At some point, Powell was leaning towards going into a Political Science or English education but something about that just never felt right. Eventually, he decided that being a musical educator was ideal. “It’s where I felt the most comfortable and best as myself,” said Powell.
Throughout his musical career, he has done many performances in genres ranging from Jazz to Latin music. He was also a part of multiple ensembles, along with playing in the pit orchestra for many different musicals. This allowed him to experiment with numerous instruments; the one he’s been playing since the 4th grade is the French Horn.
“I feel like Mr.Powell is fun, he’s passionate about the band program, and he is willing to teach us anything that we want to in regard to band. The band program this year is headed in the right direction under the direction of Mr. Powell,” said junior band student Akila Agustin.
“The most memorable moment for me was being able to go back two years ago and play in orchestra with my mom because my mom also plays the French Horn,” said Powell, “I went home for Christmas to go visit her and they have an orchestra that plays Handel’s Messiah every year and that was a tradition when I was in middle and high school that I would play with her.”
With Powell’s passion for music, he decided to revive the Nānākuli band program. Striving to soon bring back a marching band and have a pep band that can play at events like football games.
Powell said, “So the main vision that I have for the band program here is I really want it to go back, not necessarily just how it was before, but I want us to really exceed, excel.”
Through band, Powell hopes that students will learn several life lessons out of everything they do. Things they can also apply to other classe,s like their ability to listen, focus, ability to complete one task at a time, and discipline.
Agustin said, “I know that with the passionate help of Mr. Powell and the enthusiasm of the students, the band program will be great.”
“Focusing on yourself, especially, what are your weaknesses? What are your strengths? Critiquing yourself and becoming a better person every time,” Powell said.
Joseph Powell gives Nānākuli a glimpse of what is yet to come out of the band program. Encouraging students to join him for the ride, and for those thinking of continuing music after high school like him, he offers some advice: “Just don’t give up, it’s going to be really, stupidly hard but you just push through it and you will get it down over time. If you ever feel discouraged, just go for it.”
