Langston University Brass Ensemble Giving Support To Their Families In The Bahamas

Island Breeze is an ensemble of musicians with Langston University’s band. They’re here on band scholarships and all from the Bahamas.

“We’re all about giving back to the community though. We’re just trying to give people a little taste of our culture,” said Darrien Rolle with the band ensemble.  

“One day we were just playing around in the band room and our band director liked it, so he was like why not something with it do you know?” said Rolle.  

When Band direct Mark Gordon came to Langston four years ago, he made it a point to recruit band students from the Bahamas  

“We have roughly about 43 to 45 band students in the band from the Bahamas, we’re expecting about 80 in the band next year,” said Gordon.  

The students are loving their experience at Langston. But when hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas in 2019 it was a real challenge for them  

“It was tough because we didn’t know if our families were okay. Islands like Abaco, Freeport, like those Islands were flooded. People lost their houses, lives, cars jobs everything,” said Rolle.  

And soon after it became safe for them to get home to check on their families the pandemic hit and travel was shut down.  

“This past December was the first time many of them have seen their parents in two years,” said Gordon.  

The ensemble now plays at different events, raising money to send to their families back home.  

“We don’t even ask for nothing, we just volunteer sometimes. But it’s really just us doing what we need to do to show our appreciation,” said Rolle.  

The ensemble we be at Wildwood Christian Church in Oklahoma City, this Sunday for their Black history program at 10 a.m.  

“It’s something different, it’s something good for our community and it’s something good for them as well. The exposure is really what we’re looking to do,” said Pastor Dwayne Rodgers, with Wildwood Christian Church.  

“Oklahoma is far from the Bahamas and to know that we are so far from home and we’re still trying to give back to people in need at home it’s great,” said Rolle.  

The group is made up of about 45 students that rotate for their engagements. All the students carry a 3.3 grade point average or better.  

The ensemble is available for all types of events and functions they can be contacted thru Langston University’s band office.