Top band students to perform this weekend

For the past two years, Nevada's best brass players have come from Carson High School.

Jon Holloway, 16, won the command performance at this year's all-state competition with his French horn, following Tyson Reed, 18, who captured the title last year on the trumpet.

This weekend, all of Carson City will have the opportunity to hear them play.

Holloway, Reed and tuba player Matt McDowell, 17, will perform a concert at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Performance Hall of the Brewery Arts Center as a fund-raiser for the Carson City Symphony.

Although the boys play together in several bands at the high school, the concert will give them the chance to play with others at their own level.

"It's a lot more fun and a lot more emotional at times," McDowell said. "You get into it more because everybody's better."

And it's an opportunity to play in front of an audience rather than judges.

"Their energy adds to yours," Reed explained. "If they're cheering you on, you do better."

Holloway began playing the guitar about seven years ago and has learned a variety of instruments.

"I like to play music because it's a way to express myself," he said. "It keeps me busy."

He was encouraged to play by his father, Larry Holloway, who taught band at Carson High and Eagle Valley Middle schools before his death in December.

Holloway said his all-state performance served as a tribute to his father.

"I wouldn't have been there with out him," he said. "I don't think any of us would have been anywhere without him."

McDowell agreed.

"He inspired me. I think he inspired all of us," McDowell said. "He always told me to go for what I wanted to do.

"If I can be half the man that he was, I would consider myself a success."

If you go:

What: Band performance

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Performance Hall of Brewery Arts Center

Cost: $25 for adults and $8 for students

Call: 883-4154