Accompanying football with a little fanfare

Students point to the bonding, friends and musical opportunities band presents.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

THE SUN BEATS DOWN ON the back of your neck as you stand for hours, following the same instructions over and over again.

You’re sweating beneath a wool uniform and the 25-pound bass drum draped over your shoulders is starting to dig into your skin. To top that off, you have to keep the beat.

August is crunch time for marching bands, culminating with a week of band nights throughout the region and then the first football games.

Practices begin in June or July and run most days through August at two to six hours a pop. Students must perfect music memorization and coordinate it with the field routines. Many bands head to band camp, a weeklong excursion at a college campus or other location where practice sessions run all day on and off the field.

It’s a big time commitment and a few students admit occasional envy of the free time enjoyed by their nonband friends. But mostly, band is in their blood.

“I love music,” said Janell Heggins, a senior at Liberty High School where she logs long hours as the band’s drum major. “Music is basically my life. I like all kinds of music, and band exposes you to all kinds of music. It gives you a way to express yourself.”

Same thing for Kaitlin Billock, a junior mellophone player at Poland Seminary High School:

“I positively love music,” she said. “You meet new people before the school year starts, and it’s really about bonding for me.”

Different styles

The marching bands at Liberty, Boardman and Poland high schools, all show-style bands, perform a mix of rousing rock songs, pop favorites and high-energy show tunes.

Swinging horns and pumping arms punctuate the funky music.

Austintown Fitch High School’s marching band is more formal: Taut formations and precise turns accompany the crisp military marches.

It’s a long-standing Austintown tradition.

“We are a military band and we’re going to stay a military band,” said Wes O’Connor, band director.

At a rehearsal last week, Austintown’s 224 musicians, drum majors, members of the color guard and rifle and flag lines assembled in tight rows.

“Mark time, march,” shouted senior drum major Bill Klein.

As drum major, Bill, who plays trumpet in symphonic band, maps out the steps, turns, pinwheels and arrangements the band executes on the field.

He and Fitch seniors Kate Ferree, rifle line captain, and Andrea Pavlichich, flag line captain, acknowledge the long hours band demands, but they think it’s worth it.

“It’s really like a family,” said Kate, who plays flute in symphonic band.

Well-rounded students

Besides their musical pursuits, many band students devote time to other activities, both inside and outside of school.

Andrea, also a clarinet player, plays softball, is a member of the school’s speech team and president of its Latin Club. Bill is a member of speech team and drama club and president of National Honor Society.

Kate plays softball year-round, both with the school team and a traveling league.

“My students are the best kids in the school,” O’Connor said.

That sentiment is shared by his counterparts at the other three schools.

“Band students are involved in everything,” said Michael Summers, Liberty’s band director, of the 152 students that make up that band.

Thomas Ruggieri, Boardman’s director of bands, and Nick Olesko, Poland’s band director, say it’s the same with their students.

Backing up the directors and students are hundreds of parents who lend support through fundraising, transportation, paperwork and more.

Unique learning experience

Jonathan Weisberg, a senior alto saxophone player at Liberty — whom Summers describes as a budding composer — says the hours he spends in band with classes, rehearsals, private lessons and practice are incalculable.

Band is like nothing else. Rather than a teacher instructing and students doing, band is more collaborative between the two, Jonathan said.

“You can’t change much about history, but I have changed the harmonies on some pieces,” Jonathan said.

Brandon Staley, junior drum major at Liberty, says it’s opportunities to meet and bond with people in band that keep him involved.

“In band, you can have experiences you can’t have anywhere else,” Brandon said. “It’s like a 160-piece family.”

For Michelle Higgins, a freshman in Boardman’s 250-member Spartan Marching Band, the hardest part of getting ready for this football season was music memorization — and learning to march and play at the same time. With a few weeks under her belt, though, she’s caught on.

“You just have to get the hang of it,” the trumpet player said.

Audience appreciation

Band president Sarah Large, a senior trumpet player, is in her fourth year in the Spartan band. She most enjoys the appreciation shown by fans of the band.

“When you’re at the store in a band hoodie, people will walk up to you and tell you how much they enjoy the band,” Large said. “They appreciate all of the time that we put into it.”

Mark Modarelli, a junior snare drum player, said that he decided to join band as a freshman.

“It’s something I grew up watching at the football games and I thought it would be interesting to try it, and it is,” Mark said.

For Luke Politsky, a junior mellophone player in Poland’s 265-member band, it’s the appreciation demonstrated by people who see the band that keeps him involved.

“To see people at our shows and the amount of people who come to watch us, it’s a amazing to see,” Luke said.