Music is a joy to so many people in the world, no matter the genre, style, or instrumentation. For Leah Carda of Aberdeen, music is such a big part of her life. This year, as a sophomore at Roncalli high school in the Hub City, she qualified for all-state band for the second time in a row.
“I think band in general – it’s just so much more fun than all of my other classes,” Leah said as she chuckled. “It’s still a challenge, but it’s a challenge in a different way than other classes. It’s what I’m passionate about, but I know for other people too, it’s just fun.”
Leah’s primary instrument is flute, which is what she qualified for all-state in – but she also has experience with other instruments too.
“I play mostly flute and piccolo, but I also play clarinet and saxophone,” she explained. “I like the woodwinds. My mom is the band director at our school, so I get a lot of opportunities to try new stuff. I like to take that opportunity and learn different instruments and learn different skills. I started playing alto sax in sixth grade.”
As Leah mentioned, her mom Kimberly is the band director at Aberdeen Roncalli as well.
“I will say, my mom is a really good director,” Leah stated. “So it’s nice. There are times where she treats me like a student, and then there are other times she treats me more like her daughter.”
“In our household, the two (family and school) do blend together, but I will say I’m probably harder on my own kids than I am the other kids in class,” Kimberly, Leah’s mom, explained. “But I think every coach is that way too, we don’t want our kids to look like they’ve received preferential treatment. Leah has had to work hard. Not just because she’s a good musician, but I hold her maybe to a higher standard than any of my other kids, because I don’t want her to be singled out as the band directors kid."
Leah is the youngest of three kids in the Carda household. Kimberly met her husband Joel in music when she was going through high school years ago. And now with Kimberly going through a career in music, it makes sense for her kids to also be heavily involved in it. Kimberly did state that she’s proud of what her daughter Leah has accomplished at this point in her career.
“To be that successful that young is sort of unique. She’s kind of following in my husband and my footsteps. My husband and I met at all-state chorus and we were both in all-state band, so music has kind of always been there for us,” Kimberly said. “Leah is just exceptionally talented, though, but she works hard. It’s not all easy peasy for her, but I think that’s any good musician, they have a good work ethic.”
All-State band is a different setting for not just Leah, but for all band kids in South Dakota. Participants are separated into two bands, the Lewis or Clark, and then they work with a guest conductor for the event. Leah was in the Clark Band at All-State this year, who was conducted by Dr. Andrew Boysen of the University of New Hampshire.
“It’s fun learning new stuff from other directors and then sometimes I learn all this stuff and come to my mom and say “you need to do this in band.” I tell her stuff that I think would help benefit our band,” said Leah.
Leah loves music. She also loves her school band in Aberdeen, and getting to work with her mom in the classroom on a regular basis. But she does say that experiencing all-state band in South Dakota is something she’ll never forget.
“It brings for me a feeling of joy. Specific parts in songs where it’s a really big moment, it just makes me so happy,” Leah exclaimed. “I don’t know how to explain it. Big moments bring a lot of emotion to me. It’s really fun being around people who are passionate about the same stuff as you.”
As a sophomore, Leah has her eyes set on making all-state the next two years as well, even though she understands that each year the competition to make it will be high.
And after high school, while it’s still a few years away, she plans to attend South Dakota State University for music education and follow in her mom’s steps to be a band director herself.
“It’s kind of neat that she would aspire to that,” said Kimberly. “The good thing is, she knows how much to make it successful. She kind of has seen the work ethic that needs to happen, the drive, and the relationship you have to have with your students to be successful. When I was that age, I had no idea, but Leah has these talents, she’s developing them, and it makes sense that this is what she wants to do.”
With two years remaining of school, Kimberly is looking forward to savoring every moment with her daughter.
“I’m mostly looking forward to the memories, because it’s time that you can never get back. It’s just gone so fast already, and being she’s the youngest, it’s just a little bit different,” Kimberly explained. “I never thought I’d get too sappy about it, because growing up, the grind of raising kids is tough, but seeing everything culminate into something that’s so much bigger than band rehearsal, it’s been pretty cool.”
