Chief Warrant Officer 4 Curtis Hiyane, commander of the Hawaii Army National Guard's 111th Army Band, conducts an assembly of Hawaii Army National Guard Soldiers and local students during a music
fellowship concert with Hawaii students in Pearl Cit...

U.S. Army Spc. Kameron Omizo and Staff Sgt. Charifel Mateo sing a pop song for a performance done by a small group during a music fellowship concert with Hawaii students in Pearl City, Hawaii on June 12, 2016. Their performance was part of a concert ...

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Okubo rehearses alongside Raistlin Ramos at the Pearl City Cultural Center in Pearl City, Hawaii on June 12, 2016. Okubo and Ramos were preparing for a performance as part of a community outreach mission put on by the...

U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Jonathan Kimura presents a certificate of achievement to Yuji Maurer at the Pearl City Cultural Center in Pearl City, Hawaii on June 12, 2016. The certificate was to recognize Maurer for participating in an outreach event held by t...

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Scott Okomura of the Hawaii Army National Guard's 111th Army Band mentors Brendan Hiyane during a practice session at the Pearl City Cultural Center in Pearl City, Hawaii June 12, 2016. The concert was the culmination of a weeken...

The Hawaii Army National Guard's 111th Army Band participates in a music fellowship concert with Hawaii students in Pearl City, Hawaii on June 12, 2016. The concert was the culmination of an outreach effort made by the soldiers of the 111th Army Band...

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nathan Lee performs alongside Switcelle Rubonal at the Pearl City Community Center in Pearl City, Hawaii on June 12, 2016. Lee and Rubonal were participating in an outreach event put on by the Hawaii Army National Guard's 111th A...

The Hawaii Army National Guard's 111th Army Band participates in a music fellowship concert with Hawaii students in Pearl City, Hawaii on June 12, 2016. The concert was the culmination of an outreach effort made by the Soldiers of the 111th Army Band...

The Hawaii Army National Guard's 111th Army Band participates in a music fellowship concert with Hawaii students in Pearl City, Hawaii on June 12, 2016. The concert was the culmination of an outreach effort made by the Soldiers of the 111th Army Band...

The concert, performed in front of family and friends, was the culmination of a weekend-long outreach mission conducted by the band in order to mentor local students.

"This mission is about community outreach," said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Okubo, a team leader in the 111th Army Band. "[We're] reaching out to the high school and college students, and giving them the opportunity to be a professional musician for a weekend."

According to Okubo, professional musicians generally have less time to prepare for a concert than students in band classes do.

This is a valuable experience for any student pursuing music as a career, said Okubo.

"In general, we're teaching them how to be professional musicians and put together a concert and adjust to changing conditions," said Okubo. "That's something that most of them aren't used to."

The students are also given the chance to perform in smaller musical ensembles consisting of only a handful of musicians, said Okubo. Performing in these small teams allows the students to gain experience as soloists.

"Rather than being hidden in a band of 70 people or so, they're one of five voices," said Okubo. "So it really gives them a chance to be heard."

The experience of working with the band was not what Wryen Waniya, a trumpet player and a junior at Punahou School, expected it to be.

"The Soldiers are so welcoming," said Wryen. "You hear about the military and you expect them to be really strict, but the Soldiers here are really relaxed."

While the band spent much of the weekend mentoring the students, the band members also learned new things from working with the students, said Okubo.

"I'm learning from a clarinet player who's a college graduate in music," said Okubo. "She's a better player than I am, so I'm learning from her, while at the same time we're teaching the younger kids about music techniques."

According to Okubo, this is the first year the 111th Army Band has held this event.

"Now that we've done the first event, I'm hoping that we'll be able to do it annually," said Okubo.

Wreyn is looking forward to playing in the next fellowship concert.

"It was such a good experience working with the Soldiers, they perform at a professional level, so we really learned a lot," said Wreyn "If this event happened again next year I'd be willing to come."