When Vincent Vicchiariello began his transition to Director of Bands at Nutley High School in New Jersey in 2018, the program boomed. “We had our biggest [group] of 95 students in our marching band,” he says. “We were busting at the seams.”
Most music educators are adept at managing a heavy workload, but Michael Gamon, chair of the department of fine and creative arts at Harrisburg Academy in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania, has mastered the art of juggling.
When V.R. Eaton High School in Haslet, Texas, opened its doors in 2015, director of percussion Matt Moore immediately started a percussion ensemble. In its inaugural year, the group of 11 went to the North Texas Percussion Festival and finished last.
In response to student demand, Highland High School in Illinois introduced an extracurricular show choir to its already multifaceted choral program that includes an a cappella group, madrigal singers, chamber singers, a traditional mixed choir and musical theater. The school switched out its jazz choir for the new ensemble in the spring 2018.
The junior high years can be an awkward period. That’s why promoting self-esteem and self-discovery have become major components of Lydia Cox’s goals as the chorus and digital music teacher at Crosby Middle School within the large district of Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky.
“Band is family” rings true for many marching arts participants across the country. But making the cultural paradigm a reality rather than an empty platitude could take years of strategizing.
Performing everything from Tchaikovsky to Christina Perri, students at Orange Grove Elementary School in Anaheim, California, have a variety of opportunities to stretch their musical skills.
At Lake Worth Community High School in Florida, Dr. Tiffany Cox finds a way to provide access to music for young musicians, no matter the challenge.
In less than three weeks, the Ralls County R-II School District in Center, Missouri, more than doubled its beginning band program.
