BYMS wind ensemble and advanced orchestra performed in San Diego on the USS Midway on Friday, April 21. The type of music that was played was a variety of pop, western, classical, patriotic, marches were played on the flight deck.

“We did this same trip two years ago. It was very successful. I have a room of such talented musicians, I thought we should do it again this year. Many historical events happened with the Midway. I just think it’s a great opportunity to visit the ship and get to perform on it. If you’ve never been, there are many jets on the flight deck that people were able to tour as we played music.” stated Mrs. Watson.

After they finished performing, the bands had an opportunity to tour the ship and a harbor cruise, Watson stated, “We continued our day with a one-hour harbor cruise. There are many ships in that harbor that are in use right now. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water. Our day concluded with a stop at Killer Pizza from Mars in Oceanside. It was a long day,” stated Mrs. Watson.

“It was hard work getting all of the instruments up to the flight deck and back down. It was all worth it because we had a great time and the students visited a site that many of them would never have gotten to see,” added Mrs. Watson.

For many of the BYMS musicians performing on the USS Midway, it was a once in a lifetime experience. “ I will remember how cool it was because we knew that the ship was once a functioning aircraft carrier,” stated Juliette Moore.

“What I remember most from performing on the USS Midway would definitely be the numerous amount of aircraft on the flight deck. They around the sides, around the back, going all the way to the way to the front where we were performing,” stated Matthew Nguyen.

The USS Midway which began service from 1945 (the end of WW II) to 1992. It is the longest-serving American aircraft carrier of the 20th century, according to midway.org.

“She was getting old and there were newer, more modern ships that had been built to take her place. During those 47 years, over 200,000 men had served on the Midway.” reported to midwayfiles. “Displacement: 45,000 tons, length: 968 feet, Beam: 113 feet, Draft: 35 feet, speed: 33 knots, complement: 4,104 crew, armament: 18 5-inch guns, 84 40mm guns, 68 20mm guns, class: Midway” reported navy.mil.