Band festivals highlight fall sights and sounds scene
Forget Friday Night Lights. For marching band enthusiasts, who think halftime is the best part of the football game, Saturday nights are right for a symphony of sounds this fall.
Beginning Sept. 10 and running through October, high school bands will display their talents at packed stadiums throughout the South Hills and Western Pennsylvania.
“We get fired up for both (football and festival), but it’s nice being able to compete against other bands and seeing what other people are doing on the field,” said Liam Pedersen.
A senior, Pedersen plays the 40-pound sousaphone in the Chartiers Valley Show Band. He picked up that instrument after becoming “bored” with the others he played, like the saxophone.
Pedersen has been “an integral” part of the band. Since fourth grade, he has been a band member. He has played in the show band all four years of high school.
“It’s part of me and we love what we do,” he said.
He added that the CV band is special because the members are “family” first of all and “fun” is the first priority.
“Beyond that everything that we put out there on the field is 100% accurate. We dance. We play.
“I get fired up for every single performance. Every time I go on the field, it’s a trip, and I cherish everything about it. I’m looking forward to everything about our festival. Not one thing in particular. I just want to soak it all in.”
Megan Snyder soaks in everything as well, but as a member of the South Fayette High School marching band, nicknamed the Little Green Machine (LGM). A junior, she twirls the baton as well as plays the saxophone.
“Personally, I really love the baton,” she said. “It’s a new thing for me, and I love accomplishing new goals and trying new things.”
Snyder, who has played the saxophone since fourth grade, cannot wait for Sept. 24, when the LGM hosts nine bands and welcomes back alumni for a 75th anniversary celebration.
“I’m extremely excited about band festival,” Snyder said. “That is one of the best things about our job, you could say is to get to showcase it for other bands because they are definitely the people that appreciate us most. So it’s really great to have them see our work and see what we have been doing for the last few months. It’s a really exciting opportunity.”
Snyder takes advantage of every opportunity presented to her. In addition to band, she is a varsity cheerleader and a youth karate instructor. She is a member of the National Honor Society and prom committee.
Students like Snyder make the LGM special, says Eryn Carranza. She started as an assistant in 2007 and became the band director in 2011.
A Bowling Green University graduate, she played the sousaphone in the Seneca Valley High School marching and concert bands. In addition to her duties as band director, she instructs high school students in the concert, wind ensemble and pep band as well as runs the fourth- and fifth-grade beginning band programs at South Fayette.
“Year after year,” she said, “the kids never fail to amaze me.”
Carranza added, “The little things that make us unique is that we have been a dancing band since the band’s inception in 1947. So we have a high energy dance and play thing going on.”
Carranza said it is a requirement that all members must play an instrument. All of the majorettes, which is the only auxiliary unit the LGM has, must have played at least one year as an instrumentalist in the band before they can audition to become a majorette, and then, they still have to be enrolled in the band program.
Being a member of a marching band demands commitment. Most attend summer band camps to prepare for halftime routines and shows.
For example, South Fayette trains from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. three to four days a week during camp. Seniors usually start at 8:30 a.m. and finish at 4:30 p.m. During the school day, band members meet as a split ensemble for rehearsals. The entire band practices after school for about two hours.
“People have no idea what we do. Not at all,” Carranza said. “They don’t realize how much we do. It’s a big time commitment, and the kids do an awesome job.”
During band camp, the LGM learns four different dance tunes – an opener, traditional march down the field, one stand-still tune and one finale, which typically is a medley of different songs, and each section is featured. The dance steps are also learned along with all the music and drill routines. Week to week the Lions pick and choose what they want to do and polish the routine for Friday’s halftime show.
Halfway through the year, the band works on a senior tribute show that will include tunes from the graduating class’ freshman year.
Because it is the LGM’s 75th anniversary, band members are preparing a special show for the festival. It will include a combined piece – “We Go Together,” from “Grease” – with the alumni band. Additionally, they are preparing a couple of extra tunes for the celebratory event.
According to Carranza, halftime shows are limited to 10 minutes or less. At a band festival, she said, there is a little more wiggle room and bands don’t have the time limit they have at a football game. Typically, at a festival a band can play between five to seven songs.
“We always have fun at football games, but the band festivals are something special,” Carranza said. “Everybody is there to hear the bands that night.
“What’s even greater is the camaraderie among all of the band students and all of the schools. It doesn’t matter what color you are wearing, everybody is supporting and cheering each other on.
“There’s just nothing like it,” she added. “There really isn’t.”
Traci Kelly would say the same thing about the Chartiers Valley show band, which performed “Water Me,” by Lizzo; “Levitating,” “Cold Hearted” and a Blondie piece during its halftime show. The ensemble will add a Justin Beiber tune and “Jungle Love” for their band festival appearances.
“Nothing about what we do is about competition. Show band means that it’s truly entertainment,” said Kelly, who served twice as director since arriving at CV in 2000.
“These kids love doing this. They are working all the time. We have what is called a festival show. We do everything that we do during the football season. One show one night and a different one the next week. So the festival puts everything together in one giant show.”
While CV mixes it up week to week, one of the standards is the dance line.
“That makes the band unique,” said Kelly. “If you watch the band, that’s a highlight as well as the band has to dance, too. So they play, they march and they dance. First song has dance and the closing song has dance.”
Kelly played every musical instrument. She started on clarinet, then doubled on the trombone, which she played in the marching band. A Bradford resident, she marched five years in the IUP band, then taught in New York for a few years. She is in her 22nd year of teaching music in the high school and middle school as well as the band.
Kelly is looking forward to CV’s 63rd annual band festival on Sept. 17.
“I love the festivals,” she said. “It is a time for all the music people to get together and perform for each other outside of the football stadium. So entertaining.”
At Mt. Lebanon, marching band is more than entertainment. It’s competition, too.
Recently, the school started a Gold and a Blue band. Varsity members have to be in both, but the Gold unit travels and competes. The Blue unit performs at all home football games, parades and other special events.
Instrumentalists audition for placement in the Gold group, but Jason Cheskawich says it is no more less competitive than just being in the main band. A Mon Valley native, who plays the trumpet, Cheskawich has been the band director at Mt. Lebanon for 12 years. He attended Charleroi High School, then earned his music degree from Duquesne University.
Both units will perform at Mt. Lebanon’s band festival set for 6 p.m. Sept. 10. They will perform their Lady Gaga halftime show as well as the competitive’s For Every Season show, which is a compilation of classical and contemporary pieces. The school’s percussion front ensemble and drumline will also perform at the festival.
“It’s a well-balanced band. We do a little bit of everything,” Cheskawich said. “The drumline is popular,” he admitted, “but all groups get a chance to shine. We spread the love around.”
Because the band is competing on the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Marching Band Association (PIMPA) circuit, Mt. Lebanon will have competitions through late October, when regionals will be held in Delaware.
“It’s pretty intense,” Cheskawich said. “The band wanted to go in this direction.
“The band festivals are exciting though because they are a great opportunity to see everybody else and get together with so many people at one time at one venue to see and enjoy bands.”
Cheskawich sees similarities between band members and athletes.
“We all have our own vehicle, but the band experience is similar to what teams experience. We all succeed together. There are more similarities than there are differences, and any opportunity we get to highlight our students is a good thing.”
Cheskawich added that the Lebo band is special because the community is so supportive of the arts in general.
“The fact the community supports and the school puts priority on the arts has enabled us as instructors to come in and work with so many talented kids. When you are surrounded with good staff and great people, it’s easy. It’s an enjoyable process from the beginning to the end, and we all have that fun playing together.”
Band Festival Schedule
• Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. at Mt. Lebanon.
Featured will be Allderdice, Bethel Park, Blackhawk, Mt. Lebanon Blue and Gold Bands, Mt. Lebanon Little Devils, Mt. Lebanon Percussion Front Ensemble and Drumlin, Robert Morris University, Seton LaSalle.
Tickets are $10 for adults. Children under 5 are admitted for free.
• Sept 17 at 7 p.m at Chartiers Valley.
Participating bands are: Avella, Charters-Houston, Chartiers Valley, Keystone Oaks, Montour, Robert Morris University and West Allegheny.
Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens.
• Sept. 24 at South Fayette.
Featured will be Avella, Avonworth, Carlynton, Chartiers Valley, Fort Cherry, Hopewell, Montour, Obama Academy, South Fayette, West Mifflin. Guest appearance by the South Fayette alumni band.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and senior citizens.
• Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at Bethel Park.
Participating bands are: Avella, Baldwin, Belle Vernon, Bethel Park, Connellsville, Fort LeBoeuf, North Hills, South Fayette, Upper St. Clair.
NOTE: Upper St. Clair and Peters Township are not hosting band festivals this fall.