PRODIGIES

The band will play a holiday concert at 7:30 tonight at Stambaugh Auditorium.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Thomas Groth drops his hands, and the best high school concert band in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys slowly comes to a stop. He leans forward on the conductor's stand and reminds the horn section to hit the right note near the end of the complicated arrangement of "Silent Night."
Groth then raises his hands, and the band starts to play. Stambaugh Auditorium, empty of an audience, fills instead with the soft sounds of the familiar Christmas song.
The horns get it right this time, and the band flows easily from "Silent Night" into "Jingle Bells."
"It's like an all-star band. It's the best of the schools and the area," said Groth, who spent 30 years as the director of the Boardman High School band.
He is now an associate conductor of the Henry A. Stambaugh Youth Concert Band, which he helped found three years ago. It's composed of 90 of the best brass, wind and percussion players from high schools in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Mercer and Lawrence counties.
The band will play a holiday concert at 7:30 tonight at Stambaugh Auditorium.
Challenging pursuit
Groth said the band was needed to give talented local students the opportunity to challenge themselves and to improve by playing music that typically wouldn't be played by a high-school band. He noted that some high-school bands would need six to eight weeks of daily practice to learn the Stambaugh band songs.
The Stambaugh band practices once a week for 10 to 11 weeks in the fall and spring. It plays one concert each season.
Groth added that before the Stambaugh band was formed, some local students were driving to Cleveland on Saturday mornings to play in a similar band of talented high schoolers.
Associate conductor John Veneskey added that the band allows talented local students to play music with other young people who share their interests.
"They all have something in common, and that's they all love music," said Veneskey, who is the director of Youngstown State University's Marching Pride band. "It's the best of the best."
Improvement
Students must audition in the fall to join the Stambaugh band. Groth said about 30 percent of those who auditioned this fall were not accepted.
Jenna Brucoli, 18, a senior French horn player from Howland High School, said she joined the band so she could practice with other talented local musicians. She noted that her two years with the Stambaugh band have helped her move from fourth-chair French horn player to first chair in the Howland band.
"I think I've improved a lot," she said.
Howland senior Rachel Keaty, an 18-year-old clarinetist, also said that playing with the band has helped her to improve.
"It made me better and appreciate music more," said Keaty, who hopes to play in the famed Ohio State University marching band next year.
Brookfield High School senior Sarah Bates, 18, an oboist, said playing with the Stambaugh band has "made me 10 times the oboist I used to be." She added that when she first joined the band three years ago, she was just beginning to gain an interest in music, and she wanted to know if she should pursue it as a career.
Bates now says she hopes to major in music at YSU's Dana School of Music, "mainly because of the impact this band has had on me."
Dana School of Music
Groth noted that several former Stambaugh band members are attending the prestigious Dana School or continuing their musical careers at other colleges. He said 10 Stambaugh band alumni play in the YSU concert band, and five or six more play in the university's wind ensemble.
Some Stambaugh band members said they decided on the Dana School after working with Dr. Stephen Gage, YSU's director of bands. Gage serves as the head conductor of the Stambaugh band.
"He has really inspired me to give others the experience I've had here," said Suzi Spiese, 18, a senior percussionist from Boardman High School. Spiese said she hopes to major in music education at YSU.
Greg Moose, 16, a junior trombone player from New Wilmington High School, added, "he touches on so many aspects of music, he's helped me improve on everything."
Veneskey said that while the Stambaugh band has helped with recruiting for the Dana School, the band was not created to benefit YSU.
"It is a very prestigious thing," Veneskey said of the Stambaugh band.
Groth said he expects the number of local musicians who audition for the Stambaugh band to increase. He added that eventually he would like to create a jazz ensemble and youth chorus as part of the band, and he would like the band to play more concerts.
"It's just a matter of one step at a time," Groth said.
Admission for tonight's concert is $4 for adults and $1 for students.
hill@vindy.com