Marching Band Students Share Talent, Passion for Music

As an unseasonably cool breeze chilled the summer air, the beating of drums echoed from the Reed Intermediate School one recent afternoon. There were only a handful of vacation days left for local students to savor, but the members of the Newtown High School marching band were already hard at work.

Comprised of 120 students — two of whom are eighth graders — the band practiced from 8 a.m. to noon and from 5 to 9 p.m. each day one week in preparation for a busy upcoming season. It was a big commitment for the instructors and musicians in each of the band's four main sections — percussion, brass, woodwinds and color guard — but the opportunity to perform is always greatly anticipated, said junior Alex Fogelberg.

"It's a lot of work and it's a lot of time. But at the same time, it's something that everyone loves," said the xylophone player. "It's not like school work, it's music, so everyone is passionate about it."

In recent years, practices were held at the high school, but between the school's expansion project and installation of a new turf field at Blue and Gold Stadium, space has become limited. As a result, the band held the practices in the main gym at Reed Intermediate School and in the adjacent parking lot at the 2nd Company Governor's Horse Guard.

"Right now, there's no parking lot space, no field, nothing," said Kurt Eckhardt, director of bands at Newtown High School since 2002.

The band has 10 performances scheduled for this year, including larger-scale shows at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on Oct. 2 and at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD on Nov. 7. It will also play at home football games, assuming they don't coincide with any of the band's competitions or rehearsal schedule.

Being able to compete, especially at the larger venues, is a climax of the season, said senior Nathan Stein, who plays the drums.

"It's a highlight for sure," he said. "Actually applying what you learned in the practices and hearing your scores, it's a great sense of accomplishment."

On one morning this week, the band played its musical routine entitled "Legacy, Featuring the Music of Aaron Copland," while the color guard practiced simultaneously.

The performance runs for approximately eight minutes and is the most challenging show the band has performed in years, said Eckhardt, who selected the music, and believes the students are capable of performing it at a high level.

"They understood that this would be more difficult and they embraced that," he said.

Normally, it takes the students just one week of camp to memorize their music, said senior Kevin Rovelli, drum major.

While the band camp afforded students the opportunity to polish their musical skills, it also was an ideal environment to teach life-skills such as leadership, teamwork and time management, said James Hilton, assistant drumline instructor.

"You're out, you're doing a physical activity that's difficult with 100 other people and you're trying to achieve something with all of them at the same time," said Hilton, who called the marching band the most enriching program at the high school. "It puts you in a position that being in a classroom just doesn't do. It puts you in a position of 'Wow, I really have to work with the people around me.'"

Along with sharing a passion for music, most of the students in the band are already cooperative and determined to improve in each practice.

"That's one of the great trademarks is they love this so much and they're so into it," said Eckhardt. "Although the staff is very motivated to get this band to be at its highest level, so are the kids. We don't really have to convince them to work hard."

Editor's note: Senior Kevin Rovelli is the drum major. An earlier version of this article misspelled his name.

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