By Sara Hinds
Every other Sunday since mid-February, a group gathers in Heckman Auditorium to rehearse, mainly classic Americana music and a sampling of music highlighting the last four years of the Doane Concert Band. In between songs, a crash course of the French language and culture — Duolingo, Doane style.
These are just some of the preparations for when the Doane Concert Band travels to France in late May 2026, their first international trip.
“It's [international travel] something that I've had experience [in] both as a performer and a group leader,” Andy Feyes, Ph.D, Director of Instrumental Music at Doane said. “I know the impact it can have on students and benefits in terms of recruiting and engagement with the students. So it's something ever since I walked through the door four years ago that I've kind of had floating in the back of my head.”
Since the trip was announced back in 2025, logistics are what’s been floating around in Feyes’ head, such as packing oversized instruments like tubas and coordinating overseas percussion rental.
Of the 55 students in the concert band, 28 are making the week-long trip. Ten alumni and friends are performing with the group to help balance the instrumentation, in addition to 10 other non-performers who are traveling with the group (mainly family and parents of the students or Feyes).
Students can use their Doane Travel Scholarship toward the trip, which is $1,000 available to juniors and seniors.
“I'm just excited because this will probably be one of my few opportunities to play my instrument in a place like this or other than in Heckman auditorium at Doane,” junior trumpet player Samantha Burhmann said.
The band will perform two concerts, one at the American Church near the Seine River and Eiffel Tower, and one at the Caen Memorial Museum. A smaller group, likely the brass players, will also perform on Omaha Beach.
“I think when you go someplace international as a tourist, you experience all the tourist things, and those are great, and we'll do some of those things, obviously,” Feyes said. (The Louvre and Palace of Versailles are on the list, Feyes said, as is a dinner cruise on the Seine.) “But when you go and you share music with another culture, it kind of just opens the soul in a different way.”
Feyes traveled to France 15 years ago as part of a trumpet ensemble, and still remembers how the experience changed him for the better. He’s excited for his students to have a similar life-changing opportunity to connect with people from other cultures through music.
