The Ayala Band and Color Guard (BAC) shines a spotlight on the very talented woodwinds, all with fresh new faces and ready to showcase their wonderful skills in every competition. Amongst all the woodwinds, you won’t miss the captain marching in for the 2025 to 2026 school year, Khai Dinh (11). Stepping up as the woodwind captain for the Ayala BAC, Dinh leads the band, tasked with a big job to keep everyone together and running smoothly. Despite the thrills of being captain, the job came with its inevitable hardships.
“There are some days in band where I don’t want to be here because I have so much going on in my life, or it’s just stressful in general with practice,” said Dinh.
Dinh gained his first understanding of the music world at a young age. He was introduced to music by his father, whose reserved and more self-contained personality contrasted with Dinh’s more emotional and open personality. Finding a middle ground in spite of their differences, Dinh settled on a final instrument to play.
“It all started in fifth grade when we were choosing instruments. My dad was saying ‘you should play saxophone,’” Dinh said. “I originally wanted to do trombone, but he said saxophone, so I went with it.”
Coming to BAC, Dinh was surrounded by a small circle of people. Only knowing a fraction of the band, he wasn’t very familiar with the rest of the class’s operations. The feeling of nervousness overwhelmed him, but it never stopped his journey. With a determined mindset, Dinh pushed through, and he had a result that he will never forget.
“When I wasn’t woodwind captain [in my] sophomore and freshman year, I really only knew who the altos were and never the flutes, clarinets, tenor saxes, or baritones to that degree,” said Dinh.
Everything changed as he was honored with the role of woodwind captain, where he is now in charge of and manages all the woodwind instrument players. Dinh’s comfort zone began to expand as he was introduced to more people. Despite his past unawareness of all his peers and understanding the larger scope of the BAC experience, this position made him grow into a leader, one who is strong and kind-hearted. This made the band, especially in his role, much more memorable and fun.
“When I became the woodwind captain, it kind of forced me to open up and try to get to know everyone because I was in charge of everyone,” said Dinh. “Getting to know more and more people, especially the underclassmen, as well as some seniors who I’ve been marching with for three years now, made it really cool to get to know more people.”
People around him started to reach out to Dinh with any problem that they had. His peers trusted him, each one eager to approach him due to his openness and down-to-earth demeanor. Dinh became very popular in band for not only being the woodwind captain, but also for being an inspiring role model for many of his friends.
“[Khai has] very strong leadership, and is very easy to talk to,” alto saxophone player Drew Gordon (9) said. “He’s helped me personally improve a lot mentally and just get through some things.”
Although the band has proven itself to be quite the fun experience, it is not easy to balance. Both band and Dinh’s schoolwork have taken up most of his time, which often poses a foe for him. However, he still manages to pull through. Dinh has set his sights on accomplishing bigger and greater goals throughout his high school career, making him even more determined.
“What ultimately keeps me going is that I know the end goal that I want to have for my season. What I’m going through right now is nothing compared to how I’ll be feeling at the end with all my accomplishments,” Dinh said. “There are a lot of people who just don’t take band too seriously, and it kind of affects how other people enjoy it as well as rehearsal in general.”
All in all, Dinh has had an amazing few years in band so far, and he plans to finish off strong with the goals he hopes to achieve. His willingness to keep the section together as a team demonstrates his character as a whole. Some see him not just as a captain, but also as an overall great and humorous person outside the band room.
“He’s funny, he’s a good leader, he makes everything organized—I think he’s one of the best people I’ve ever met. I think he’s been doing an amazing job,” clarinet player Isaac Yun (10) said.
As Dinh moves on to his more important years of high school, he continues to lead band gracefully. Rising to the success he has, he can always credit it back to his dad, whom he models his communication and mentorship after.
“What I tried to take from him is that he’s really straight to the point and blunt,” said Dinh. “[Being] straight out direct with the people, that’s what I’ve tried to apply, and it usually helps out a lot.”
