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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Assistant band director Michael Shevock instructed the fifth -grade band from Boardman Center Intermediate School on Jan. 9 for the school's winter concert.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Michael Shevock, assistant band director at Boardman, directed fifth-grade students during the annual winter concert on Jan. 9.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Boardman fifth-graders performed for community members on Jan. 9 at the Boardman Center for Performing Arts on Jan. 9 for the school's annual winter concert.
By JESSICA HARKER
Boardman Glenwood Junior High and Center Intermediate School students performed their winter concerts Jan. 9 and 10 at the Boardman High School Performing Arts Center.
BCIS Band Director Timothy Tuite said this is the first performance for fifth-grade band members.
“Our students have been preparing for this performance since September,” Tuite said. “At the beginning of the year, a lot of time is spent on fundamentals of music, and developing skill on their respective instruments.”
Fifth-graders at BCIS performed on Jan. 9 along with BGJHS seventh-grade students, directed by Michael Shevock.
On Jan. 10, sixth- and eighth-graders performed for the community.
Shevock said that the reason behind splitting the concerts into two days like this is because one night can not encompass all four bands while effectively showcasing the hard work students put in.
“We decided to give parents a taste of varied ability level,” Shevock said.
Tuite said that students at the intermediate level practiced with the band three days a week in preparation for the concert.
“It is a scheduled class in their day,” Tuite said. “Because the high school director is available to come to the intermediate school, we can frequently split the band into smaller groups of like instruments to increase one on one instruction time.”
The seventh- and eighth-grade bands meet every day, according to Shevock.
“We started preparing our music for this performance on the second week of school,” Shevock said.
During the concert, each grade was instructed by their director, and performed a number of songs at their current skill level.
“Band is obviously a class in school that is about learning to play, perform, and enjoy music. It is also a class about setting goals, incremental improvement over the long haul, and accepting individual responsibility so that you can be a valuable member of a team,” Tuite said.
The Boardman band program has been a part of students’ lives for 92 years, Tuite said, and this year’s fifth-graders will compose the 100th Boardman band when they reach their senior year of high school.
“While the formats of the concerts have changed over the years, there has been - to the best of my knowledge - some form of winter concert over all of those years,” Tuite said.
The concert series was moved recently from December to January, according to Shevock, because of the amount of activities during the month.
“Students met and exceeded all expectations with this concert,” Shevock said. “We are grateful for administration, the parents and anyone who is an advocate of the arts and music in the Boardman Schools.”
For more information on the Boardman bands, including scheduled performances, visit www.boardmanband.org.