Peters Township High School musicians ready for Disney soundtrack experience
Peters Township High School band members rehearse.
Peters Township High School band members rehearse.
From Snow White and “Whistle While You Work” to Queen Elsa and “Let It Go,” the soundtracks of Disney movies have been among the most memorable in cinematic history.
Students in the Peters Township High School Music Department will have the opportunity to experience what it’s like to record music for a film during an upcoming trip to Orlando, Fla.
Through Disney Youth Programs’ “Inside the Soundtrack of Disneyland” performing arts workshop, the musicians will follow in the footsteps of instrumentalists and vocalists who have contributed to eight-plus decades’ worth of songs for the silver screen.
Which songs the Peters students will perform, though, remains a mystery until it’s time to perform.
“Nothing prepped at all,” Milt Barney, high school director of bands, explained. “You just come in raw, sight reading, and you do some rehearsing.”
And then the students might play along to, say, old-school features like “Dumbo” or “Pinocchio,” or perhaps newer favorites such as “The Lion King” or “Beauty and the Beast.”
“I can imagine the jazz band would probably do something out of ‘The Jungle Book,’ because of the nature of the music,” Barney predicted, noting that ensemble’s repertoire includes “Sing Sing Sing,” as popularized by Louis “King Louie” Prima.
Whatever the case, the students are excited, as are their music teachers.
“My colleagues who have done it, as well as their students I’ve talked to, have all said it was fabulous,” Barney said. “I’m sure that Disney will do it in a great way, as far as the whole recording soundstage, the movie screen, the visibility and how that’s all put together.”
Along with members of the jazz band, the entourage traveling south from Peters on April 4 will include the concert and marching bands, string orchestra and the high school’s choral groups, totaling about 175 students. The marching band will perform during a Magic Kingdom parade, and the choir at the Disney Springs outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex.
“We were hoping that we would be in Disney Springs and not one of the parks,” Ryan Perrotte, director of choral studies, explained. “They’re not standing in line for rides. So when there’s a performance, everybody stops and sees it.”
While the music department schedules annual trips to Florida, this year marks a bit of a departure as far as the agenda.
“Normally, we do adjudications, where we get judged by collegiate judges and get awards,” Barney said. “We thought, let’s try to do something a little different for the educational experience.”
Senior Mackenzie Mendenhall went on such a trip as a choir member two years ago and is looking forward to the change of pace.
“I think it will be more exciting, with the whole performance atmosphere,” she said. “I perform to perform, rather than just be judged.”
Participation among so many students reflects the high degree of cooperation within the music department.
“We think it’s a great trip, because some of the band kids don’t know the choral kids, and the choral kids don’t know the orchestra kids,” Perrotte said. “It really integrates everyone and makes us a full department, rather than just facets of it.”