By Owen Andersen and Gavin Bowyer
Prolific gymnast. Elite marching band member. Decorated Pit member. “Celena Ichikawa Pirkl!!!” redefines the meaning of ‘athlete.’
After eleven years of gymnastics, Celena stole 1st place in all-around performance in her age group at the 2018 NorCal State Competition—“That was the first time I’ve gotten first overall. I’m very proud of that moment, and I got a shirt!” Spending her gymnastics career floating between the California Sports Center and West Valley Gymnastics School, Celena still fondly reminisces over her last coaches, Reese and Niki; “They were really patient, and they took the time to get to know us. I still really look up to them.” Overall, Celena says that the discipline and dedication of her gymnastics career carried over to her tenure in the Westmont Warrior Regiment Marching Band.
Joining her Sophomore year with a drive born from positive memories of band in middle school, Celena started out as a humble flute player before transitioning to the front ensemble or “pit.” The pit deals with mallet instruments (marimba, glockenspiel, vibraphone, etc.) and exotic percussion (bass drum, gong, high hat, and more). Ecstatic to switch, Celena feels inconceivably grateful for being a proud pit member, especially getting the opportunity to meet Charlie Tran and Alexis Plowman, the pit instructors over the past two years. “If I didn’t switch to pit I wouldn’t have got to get to know him, and see how much he likes teaching; he really put the effort in. It made me excited to go to practice, same goes with Alexis.” Additionally, Celena takes her role as a senior member very seriously, constantly trying to bond with new members in and out of the pit. When practice isn’t going so well, Celena will “usually try to keep everybody’s spirits up. Especially with the freshmen, I want them to have a good experience with marching band culture.” On a grander scale, Celena loves the Marching Band as a whole, particularly enjoying the individuals and culture surrounding the band; “Really, they’re like my second family.”
Marching band isn’t all fun and games though. Celena says she doesn’t really dislike anything about band, but says the stress gets pretty overwhelming, “creating a big chain and that never is enjoyable. The nice thing is that we have a great community that mitigates stress and keeps things fun and fresh.”
However, there’s one element of marching band that Celena dreads: Senior Speeches. An ongoing tradition within the band, senior speeches represent the final goodbye from the leaving senior class to the rest of the band. Conglomerating at Maya Bernstein’s house at an ungodly hour, senior goodbyes are always a highly emotional affair. Still, Celena can’t deny, “it’s the perfect way to end the year.”
Celena doesn’t plan on continuing her musical career professionally but still hopes to keep band in her life to some extent. Celena remains excited for the band’s last competition at James Logan High School. After years of athletic achievement, Celena stays in the hearts and minds of the people around her; go Celena!
Q&A
How has marching band changed you?
“Now when I listen to music I find the beat of songs and tap my feet, I never would’ve done that before.
Plans for the future?
“If there’s a club at my College I will probably join that.”
“Playing professionally has never been a goal, but I hope to keep band in my life. It makes me happy.”
Favorite Moments?
“Our Championship competitions at Logan are always fun; their whole vibe is super chill. Something about the end of the year clashing with the nervousness brought by the competition brings out fun moments and excitement.”
“Senior Goodbyes is one of my favorite memories and traditions that we’ve done over the years. Going to Maya Bernstein’s house has been the go-to for the past few years and the aura of tearful happiness shines through with our bonding and reminiscing, a perfect way to end the year.”
Least favorite memory?
“I don’t know if I have a least favorite thing, but the stress build-up in the year really affects people, creating a big chain and that never is enjoyable. The nice thing is that we have a great community that mitigates stress and keeps things fun and fresh.”
Why’d you join Marching Band?
“Middle school band at Rolling Hills with Mr. Rawlinson began my musical journey, you could say, but my passion didn’t take off until high school marching band. The people there, the memories, I would never have left band for the world.
Greatest fear?
“Cockroaches.”