JESSICA PALKO / Junior Growing up, I always remember coming up from Grandview to watch the preview shows of the yearly high school musical. I always had a fascination with music from a young age, so naturally being involved in the musical was something that I showed an early interest in. But, unlike the most common way of being involved in the musical as a cast member, I always knew from the time I was able to take band lessons in fourth grade that I wanted to join the pit orchestra. Now, many years later, with a lot of determination, hard work, and dedication I am getting ready to play for this year's musical Les Misérables. In the pit, I am one of eight students; I play trumpet and flugelhorn. Although I have tried out other instruments before, trumpet is my primary instrument that I have been playing for eight years. The flugelhorn is not a common instrument. I had never heard of it before until I joined pit, but it is exactly the same as trumpet when it comes to pitches and what valves to use the only difference is that it is shaped a bit differently. Personally, I prefer to play the trumpet over the flugelhorn since there is always someone else playing with me. With the flugelhorn sometimes I am playing by myself or I might have the same part as an instrument that is on the other side of the pit, so it’s harder to listen for their part so that we match up correctly. The flugelhorn is not a common instrument. Being in the pit orchestra, there is a lot of behind the scenes work that many people do not know about. Usually, the week after Christmas break we receive our music and practice schedule. Typically we practice for 9-10 hours throughout the week, lining things up and making the music aspect fall into place. In prior years we would have two rehearsals a week, a section practice and then a full group rehearsal on saturdays. However, this year we eliminated the section practices and just had full group rehearsals. I prefer this way because we were more productive and got a lot accomplished. About a week or two before the show, we spend time setting up our end of things in the auditorium, so that we can begin to rehearse with the cast. My favorite moment every year is the first practice that all the professionals and students that are in pit come together and play the prologue. It is always a powerful moment because it is the opening piece for the show and it’s all on us. Playing with the professionals is something that I look forward to every year since a lot of them play instruments that are not normally heard in concert or jazz band. Being able to work with people that play an instrument as their profession or in their spare time is rewarding not only for me but the other students in pit as well because it shows how dedicated and hardworking we are as musicians to be able to get ourselves to that point. One thing that’s fairly unknown that makes participating in pit a unique experience is that almost all of the professionals that are involved are Derry alumni. One thing that’s fairly unknown that makes participating in pit a unique experience is that almost all of the professionals that are involved are Derry alumni. Out of the three musicals that I have played in so far if I had to pick a favorite it would have to be either The Addams Family because it had such an excellent overall plot or Les Misérables because the music contains a lot of time signatures and a lot of different styles of music that I am not used to. Having the opportunity to participate in the pit orchestra is an experience that I am beyond grateful to have as a high school student, and I am already looking forward to seeing what next year’s musical will be. No matter what though, every musical is not the same and each one brings forth its own uniqueness - just like each member of the pit orchestra. JESSICA PALKO / Junior
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ISAAC KOTT / Senior Every year I’ve been eligible, I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in the PMEA District I East Senior High band festivals (grades 10-12). Although I’ve been lucky enough to participate, they have all been as a result of director recommendations--meaning that I never had to audition for a place in the band. For the 2020-2021 school year, though, PMEA is changing the way students are allowed to participate. Instead of going off of director recommendations, they are implementing auditions, as all of the other districts in the state have done. Although there are positives and negatives regarding the decision to switch from a director recommendation system to auditions, I favor the auditions. With a new audition-based selection process, it takes away the luck factor that has prevented talented students from going to this festival in years past. Since PMEA holds auditions for everything but districts, an extremely talented musician that deserves to participate in district band can get rejected based on bad luck. Once they’re rejected, they are no longer eligible to try out for the festivals beyond districts (regions and all-state). In addition to that, students who have made it beyond districts based on audition from a previous year receive no preferential treatment for the following year. Theoretically speaking, a student that made it to all-state band one year could very well not even be invited to participate in district band the following year if they’re not lucky. Although this change has many positives, it also limits some demographics of students. Since many schools in Pennsylvania have music programs that are severely underfunded, students aren’t always at fault for not performing to their full potential. Some aren’t able to practice as much as they would like, and some aren’t even able to learn their instrument because they’re unable to get the individualized help new musicians need. Festivals like PMEA District Band aid students in maximizing their potential and performing to the best of their abilities by focusing solely on instrumental music performance. Since an audition is going to be a requirement to participate, the attendance of some of the schools that don’t have well-funded programs will probably go down. Since I wasn’t auditioning to prove myself in person, I’ve never felt satisfaction beyond the “oh sweet, I got lucky again this year” mentality. Now that PMEA is changing the way they select participants, the attendance of well-off students that take private lessons will probably go up, too. This is disadvantageous to students whose families can’t afford private lessons. Just like schools that can’t afford enrichment for students who want to get better at their instrument, many families find it hard to justify paying top-dollar for private lessons for their child when they’re barely scraping by. Although there are positives and negatives regarding the decision to switch from a director recommendation system to auditions, I favor the auditions. Although it can hurt the chances of some students being able to participate, I am happy that the luck factor is essentially eliminated. Every time I’ve made it to district band, I couldn’t help but feel as if I just won a lottery and my name was picked out of a hat. Since I wasn’t auditioning to prove myself in person, I’ve never felt satisfaction beyond the “oh sweet, I got lucky again this year” mentality. If I would have made it to districts through auditions in previous years, I would feel much more accomplished than I do now. ISAAC KOTT / Senior
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