MATTAPOISETT — The blast of trumpets, whispering flutes and crashing cymbals filled the Old Rochester Junior High School auditorium as band students performed both familiar and never-heard before songs in a concert on Wednesday, May 21.

Students have been preparing for the concert since March, building on what they learned throughout the year and applying the skills to new songs.

“We’ve been going through piece by piece and going through them in different ways every single day for our classes,” said Lily Kipling, a 14-year-old Marion resident. “It all slowly came together, but little details kept getting added on.”

Kipling said her class would first listen to the song and try to match it but would then “add our own way to it.”

This year, the eighth graders worked with composer Kevin Krumenauer to premiere a piece written for them called “Celestial Sway.”

Kipling said the experience was “pretty cool” and that the piece was “more emotional” because Krumenauer has synesthesia, which is a neurological condition where people can see colors when they hear music.

“I guess you could say it was different and unique and it finally came out of the band room,” she said.

Band Director Richard Laprise said the students feel more ownership over the piece than the other songs they perform.

“It is theirs — it was written for them,” he said. “Their approach to it is also different because it’s never been performed before. There’s no recordings to listen to or anything like that.”

He added, “We are truly creating the first performance of that piece, and we get to make those choices, and we get to work with the composer.”

While last year’s eighth graders and elementary school students also premiered songs, Laprise noted that “it’s something that’s really uncommon for this age level.”

At the concert, the seventh graders performed a piece without Laprise conducting them, which Laprise said is something he tries to do with the seventh graders every year.

“The first time we do the rehearsal without me saying anything is usually pretty chaotic. They’ve never done it before — it’s new to them, and they are trying to figure out how to make it better,” he said.

Laprise said that sometimes it’s difficult for him to sit back when he hears things he wants to fix but noted that “you just have to let them experience it.”

Zachary Dellemeille, a 13-year-old Rochester resident, has played the alto saxophone for four years and at the concert played in both the seventh grade and jazz bands.

“It was really awesome,” he said. “I had a great time all year.”

Dellemeille said he’ll “miss doing it over the summer” and hopes he can keep playing the alto saxophone, “at least as a hobby.”

“They love the music and they love to share it with people, and they work really hard at what they do, and they’re very dedicated,” Laprise said.