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Lowellville band selected to perform at Ohio conference
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Lowellville High School band selected to play at Ohio conference
By Sarah Lehr
LOWELLVILLE
Bob Antonucci, Lowellville’s high-school band director, sees an upcoming showcase as the culmination of decades of work.
The Ohio Music Education Association has selected the band to perform Saturday at a professional-development conference in Cleveland.
“This is a high point for what’s happening, musically,” he said. “The community is so supportive, and the administration has been on board.”
Antonucci joined the district in 1995.
“When I’m directing the band onstage at OMEA, I’m going to be thinking about the kids over the past 22 years and the parents and the administration,” he added.
Lowellville’s band submitted a recording last May to OMEA. The state association, which is an affiliate of the National Association for Music Education, selects the ensembles it will feature via a blind-audition process.
Such an honor, Antonucci said, is rare for a district of Lowellville’s size.
“What OMEA has realized is that they’ve been focusing on the big schools from the suburbs of the big cities – the school districts that have thousands of kids, tons of money, tons of teachers,” Antonucci said. “They’re realizing that there’s good things happening in school districts that don’t fit that. ... So, this year they’ve made it a point to feature the top programs in rural and urban school districts, as well.”
About 3,000 music-education professionals will attend the OMEA conference this week. Lowellville’s band, which is composed of about 65 students, will play six pieces from a variety of genres.
Sara Sandora, a bass-clarinet player, is looking forward most to playing an Italian march.
“I’m Italian, so it has meaning for me,” said the senior, who plans to study music next year at Youngstown State University.
Antonucci will discuss the importance of Lowellville’s heritage at the conference. Specifically, the director will tell other music educators about the Mount Carmel festival, which always features the traditional Mount Carmel band. The festival, which traces its roots to southern Italy, will mark its 122nd year in the village this summer.
“Most of the people from Lowellville have an uncle or a grandfather who’s in the Mount Carmel band,” Antonucci said. “These were guys that weren’t full-time musicians. They worked in steel mills and factories, and they played their instruments. They instilled that feeling about music in their families – that you can do whatever and still play an instrument.”