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Band’s show orchestrated by student
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Cody Ortz, a senior at Springfield High School, arranged three songs by American ska group Reel Big Fish for the high school marching bandÕs halftime performance this fall. He also created the field drills to accompany the music.
NEW MIDDLETOWN
The halftime show for the Springfield High School marching band is entirely student-orchestrated — including the musical arrangements.
Cody Ortz, a high school senior and trumpet player, arranged the songs “Sell Out,” “Take on Me” and “241,” all by American ska punk band Reel Big Fish, for this year’s marching-band season.
“I got the idea because I didn’t like the arrangements we had done previously,” Ortz said. “I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could make an arrangement that sounded like the original tune but with a personal touch. As it progressed, I asked our director if we could do it as the halftime show.”
Springfield High School band director Matt Ferraro said this is the first time in his 10 years with the district that a student has arranged music for the marching band and written the drill to accompany it.
“He wrote the drill, and he did the whole show,” Ferraro said.
“Cody is self-motivated. I knew he was capable of doing this,” he added.
Ferraro’s only concern was how Ortz would get the rights to the songs.
“To do an arrangement, you either have to pay royalty fees or contact the person with the rights,” Ortz said. “I contacted the band’s manager and he e-mailed me back giving me permission. [The band] seemed excited for it. They wanted me to send them a copy of the show once we performed it.”
Connie Ortz, Cody’s mom, said her son spent all summer arranging the music.
“He listened to the songs on his iPod and figured out the notes and music from that,” she said.
Ortz comes from a musical family; His parents played in the Springfield High School band, and his sister, Sarah, is a professional French horn player and will play with the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra after she graduates from Westminster College.
Cody is following in his sister’s footsteps and plans on attending Westminster next fall, majoring in music education and music composition.
He said the biggest challenge of this project was coordinating the field drill for the march.
“I didn’t realize what all went into it. You have to pick how many instruments in this section, and this section, and locate them and move them without crossing paths. I never realized how difficult it could be,” Cody said.
When asked if he would like to be a high-school music director, Cody replied, “At some point in my career, I would like to.”
The marching band’s next performance is at Friday night’s varsity football game at Columbiana. Kick-off is 7 p.m.