The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICIANS OWN THE FIELD
High school marching bands strut their stuff at festival
It’s one thing to be part of a high school marching band during halftime under the Friday night lights wherever the school football team happens to be playing that week.
But it’s an entirely different thing to be the star players on the field for a few routines alongside 10 other ensembles from around the county.
Such is the nature of the Lake County Music Educators Association Marching Band Festival, which played out under the lights at Mentor High School’s Jerome T. Osborne Stadium Sept. 20.
Just ask Kitty Stout, assistant band director at the Madison Schools and President of the LCMEA.
“This is just a fun evening for everyone to just show off what they do,” she said shortly after addressing the crowd of easily more than 1,000 who filled the bleachers Wednesday night. “There’s no competition. There are no judges. It’s just fun. There’s no stress and it’s a good time for everyone.”
She also said marchingband shows like this also give band members a chance to see what other schools’ bands are doing, routine and style-wise.
“It’s something the students look forward to every year,” Stout said. “And it gives them a chance to see other schools’
bands that they might not otherwise get a chance to see. They get to see what they’re doing — different styles and routines. I think that’s really good for the kids.”
Madison Band Director Brett Tomko agreed.
“Just getting all the Lake County bands together and seeing what each other is doing is what makes this such a great event,” Tomko said. “Plus, it makes halftime the main event. And that’s really great for these kids because they all work so hard at what they do.”
He added how important it is for the bands, their families and other supporters to be able to come together at an event like the LCMEA Band Festival.
“It’s important you get together like this and support each other, especially when we’re all busy at different football games,” he said. “We’re all doing the same thing, just in a different way. So it’s just good to get together like this and get the chance to see what everyone else is doing. And the kids love it.”
Two such kids — Madison trumpet player Chrissy Kurilec and Emily Carroll, both seniors and drum majors for the band — agreed.
“I look forward to this event every year,” Kurilec said. “We get to see different schools we don’t normally get to see because we’re in a certain division. For example, we don’t get to see Lake Catholic or Wickliffe because our schools’ teams don’t play each other. So it’s great to get together and see what they’re doing.”
She added that it’s a special night, too, because the bands are the main attraction.
“We get to see different schools we don’t normally get to see because we’re in a certain division.” — Madison trumpet player Chrissy Kurilec
“It’s not like: ‘Yay! There’s a football game, and, oh yeah, there’s the band.’ This is great because it’s specifically for the bands,” Kurilec said.
Carroll agreed, especially because she plans to take her interest in playing music to another level and pursue music education as a career.
“I think it’s really neat to see all the different styles, especially because of all the different bands and directors I’ll likely come into contact with in the future,” she said. “So it’s definitely cool to be able to get exposed to all the different styles that are out there.” Even non-band kids came to the show in Mentor Wednesday night, including a group of friends from Wickliffe High School who heard about it from a friend who plays the tuba in Lake Catholic’s band.
Joe Mohr, Rocco Baldassarre, Max Mrazek and Ricky Bunn could be seen around 8:15 p.m. Wednesday near the west end of the Jerome T. Osborne Stadium enjoying the show.
“We’re not band members, ourselves,” Baldassarre said. “We’re here supporting our friends who are in the band.”
He added that they all just got their drivers’ licenses and figured they’d use them to take a trip to Mentor for the show.
“The funny thing is, the person who told us to come check it out is my neighbor, who doesn’t even go to Wickliffe,” Bunn said.
No matter where those in attendance go to school, went to school or even when they graduated, it didn’t matter Sept. 20. They were all there to see the fruits of all the hard labor that invariably goes into the performances these talented groups of high-schoolers produce, game after game and show after show.