Durward looks to improve HHS band as drum major

Havre High School's band has a new Drum Major in Liana Durward, a senior and former color guard captain, who took over at the beginning of this year and who has been looking to continue improving not only their performance, but their connection to the larger community.

Durward started playing music in middle school, as part of a family tradition that included her father and brother, both of whom played in middle school, the former playing percussion and the latter playing trumpet.

Durward on the other hand opted for the alto saxophone, but has since pivoted to a baritone saxophone which the high school band was in need of, a change she said she has definitely enjoyed.

She said she wasn't originally planning to keep playing after middle school, but the more flexible nature of high school and a new band director in Cullen Hinkle convinced her to keep at it.

"In high school, you have a little more room to grow and a little more space to have fun," she said. "That's what kept me going."

Durward said she aligns more with Hinkle's approach to music and band than the previous director and since becoming drum major she's been working closely with him.

In performances, she said, her job is to set the tempo for the rest of the members, but behind the scenes she also does a lot of organizational work, coordinating team captains, making sure everyone is on the same page, and helping to create fliers and organize events.

She said she has her own vision for the group, but the last drum major left quite a legacy behind and she was nervous going into this year.

"Our last drum major we had for two years, so I was kind of worried about how the band was going to see me as a leader."

However, she said, since then everyone has been supportive of her goals and receptive to her ideas.

Durward said one of her primary concerns has been improving relationships between band members and creating a more cohesive unit so members not only play well as individuals but as a group, and have respect for each other.

"If you don't have that, you don't have a band," she said.

She said she feels Hinkle, as a driving force for the band, has been incredibly helpful and working with him has been great.

"He helped ground us a little bit," she said.

She said the members, their families, Hinkle and the community at large is what makes everything she does possible, so any success she has is ultimately a reflection of them.

She said the position and everything involved with it takes up an incredible amount of time, but she's happy to give it.

Durward said the position has changed her perspective on music a little bit and exposed her to how other people process music, which is often very different.

She said this has taught her to be more patient and understanding herself and try to understand how the different members view music.

Another priority she said she has is to get the bands more involved with the larger community.

Durward says the athletics teams seem to be talked about a lot more in town than the arts and she wants the band to do more in the community and maybe even the playing field a bit.

To that end, she said, they've been working hard to improve their halftime shows, set up fundraisers and other events in Havre.

After finishing her senior year, she said, she plans to attend college for nursing, having done work-based study at her mother's private practice and gaining her certified nursing assistant license at 15 years old.

She said she does hope to keep playing music and noted that there was some crossover between the two, specifically interacting with so many different people, all of whom have different ways of processing things and dealing with them.

Durward said she hopes to come back at some point to see how the band has developed in the years after she leaves.