Band teachers immerse themselves in music every day, doing what they love for a living.
Still, teaching basic to intermediate skills day in and day out does not always give them a chance to let their musical talents shine. A Southern Maryland orchestra of mostly music teachers gives them that outlet for three concerts a year, including one this weekend at a Charles County high school.
Marvin VanDyke of La Plata has taught music at schools in St. Mary’s and Charles counties for about 30 years. Three years ago the trumpet player helped form the Chesapeake Symphonic Winds, a wind instrument and percussion ensemble.
“We’re composed of mostly all teachers from the tri-county area,” VanDyke said.
The Chesapeake Symphonic Winds does not practice weekly or on any regular schedule, VanDyke said, but instead gets together for just a couple of rehearsals a week or so before a concert.
That means each musician must bring his or her A-game, he said. The members who are music teachers already practice daily through their work at schools, so that’s a kind of substitute for regular weekly sessions together.
“We never get out of practice,” VanDyke said.
The nonteaching members, usually including a few professional musicians from the area and several parents of band members’ students, are of high enough caliber that they can step right in and perform great without a lot of rehearsal time, too, VanDyke said.
“We do some amazingly challenging things because we have some outrageous players,” he said.
The group is in its third season and its three annual shows are in February, June and October.
The orchestra usually has between 45 and 60 performers, all playing wind or percussion instruments, VanDyke said.
They will perform several pieces, often including a John Philip Sousa march, some traditional arrangements, a newly composed piece, a show tune or Broadway medley and a “splashy” piece, he said.
“We spice it up and do a variety of things,” he said.
This weekend’s concert will be conducted by Russell Bly, music teacher at Westlake High School in Waldorf. They’ll be performing “Amparito Roca” by Jaime Texidor, “Danze Finale” by Alberto Ginastera, “San Antonio Dances” by Frank Ticheli, “A Festival Prelude” by Alfred Reed and “Hymn to a Blue Hour” by John Mackey.
The shows are free, for now, VanDyke said. Ultimately as more band members join through word of mouth and the popularity of the group grows, they may start to charge for shows, he said.
“We can really do an awful lot of amazing things,” he said.
The shows give the musicians a chance to really show off their talents and play to their potentials, VanDyke said.
A change of pace
“As a professional [musician] in the education field, we don’t get a lot of opportunities to play with other professionals,” said Megan Czechanski, director of bands at Leonardtown Middle School in St. Mary’s County.
Czechanski, who plays clarinet, has taught in St. Mary’s public schools for eight years, the last two at Leonardtown Middle School. She lives in Lusby and also teaches private lessons at a music store in Owings.
The Chesapeake Symphonic Winds is “an opportunity for us to see where we want our children to be later in life,” she said. She and many of the other teachers encourage their students to attend the concerts, which allow the teachers to provide audible examples of musical excellence.
Spring Ridge Middle School band director Steven Giannuzzi said he gives students extra credit if they bring back a program to class to prove they were at the performance.
He said the music is usually a mix of challenging and fun pieces, chosen by the director.
“It’s a nice choice of music,” he said. “The director [who is pulled from among the band members] is always different.”
Giannuzzi plays percussion in the orchestra, along with three or four other players.
“I don’t care if I play a triangle or a timpani concerto. It doesn’t matter, “he said. “I just want to play.”
He said that while he enjoys his job teaching, the ensemble is “a welcome change.”
As a middle school band teacher, Giannuzzi works with students to develop their musicality. The ensemble gives him and others a chance to showcase their skills as mature musicians, he said.
Cliff Whitford of Hughesville has been teaching music for the last six years at four Charles County public elementary schools Berry, T.C. Martin, Mary H. Matula and William B. Wade. Before that, he taught at John Hanson Middle School for about 18 years, he said. He also has been playing trombone in the Chesapeake Symphonic Winds since it began three years ago.
“It keeps me busy,” Whitford said.
Whitford had a chance to play in the ensemble with one of his sons, David, who is majoring in music at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. That was a great experience, he said.
“It allows you to get back into what you got into in the first place. It gives you the opportunity to perform,” Whitford said of the Chesapeake Symphonic Winds.
Whitford also gives his students extra credit if they attend the Chesapeake ensembles, or really any orchestra performance, he said. He said seeing music performed live can offer a music student something a lesson may never be able to: inspiration.
“We all knew what we want to hear from our ensembles” at schools, he said. The Chesapeake ensemble gives the music teachers a chance to hear that orchestral sound perfected, live, from their own breath and fingertips.
Whitford and the other teachers said that they all still very much enjoy teaching music, even the fundamental lessons required for beginners. The ensemble, though, offers them a break from their day jobs and a chance to perform with their peers at an advanced level, he said.
“It’s sort of a tonic. It’s our relaxation,” Whitford said. “Just the fact that you’re playing is fulfilling.”
jyeatman@somdnews.com
If you go
The Chesapeake Symphonic Winds will perform at 7 p.m. Feb. 4 at Westlake High School, 3300 Middletown Road, Waldorf. The concert is open to the public and free.
For more information, contact Marvin VanDyke at mvandyke@ccboe.com, Susan Eckerle at seckerle@ccboe.com or Russell Bly at rbly@ccboe.com.
