High school marching bands practice at Central Michigan University
This one time, at Central Michigan University...
Forest Hill Central High School’s band camp is one of several schools visiting CMU to learn marches and music.
Max Quick, a junior at FHCHS and trombone player in the band, joined band in sixth grade when given a choice between band, choir or orchestra as an elective.
“Band camp is hard work, but after you work hard enough it is really fun,” Quick said. “There’s pressure involved but you just have to keep playing and have fun doing it.”
An average day for the band students starts at 8 a.m. with practice, learning drill routines and 18 pages of new music a day. Rehearsal lasts until 8 p.m. when the hard work is broke up with a fun activity for the students like dances, movie nights and contests.
“People don’t realize the effort these students go through to put on a half-time show for the football game, but they have fun doing it, so band camp has really become their highlight of the year,” said John Destefano, FHCHS’s director of bands.
Destefano said this is the 26th summer that Forest Hill Central High School has traveled to CMU to practice their marching band routines. The high school’s band has 320 students which is one-fifth of the student population, he said.
Alex Harris, a junior at FHCHS, plays the snare drums. He started his involvement with marching bands in sixth grade as well.
“I’ve talked to my friends from other schools and they’ve told me that their band is really unpopular, but not with our school,” Harris said. “We have all different types of kids that want to be in band, everyone wants to give it a try because it’s kind of like the cool thing to do.”
Harris decided to play drums as soon as she joined marching band, because she was influenced by her father’s legacy as a drum player.
“My parents always yell at me because even when I’m not here practicing, I’m at home tapping on the dinner table,” Harris said. “It’s become a big part of my life, and I’ll always have it as a hobby and an interest.”
Kyle Sherman, a junior at FHCHS a tenor drums player joined band three years ago. At first he didn’t feel as experienced as some of the other players.
”When I first auditioned, it took me 10 hours to learn the piece that they wanted me to play,” he said. “Last summer I practiced for two hours, and this summer I got it down in a half-hour, so camp is definitely helping.”
The camp of 250 students and 25 chaperones arrived at CMU Sunday afternoon and will leave Thursday.
“My job is to make (student’s) high school experience a four year process of teaching them to learn life through music, grow with music, and use music to help change their life for the better,” Destefano said. “It’s great to watch the students doing something that they really enjoy and bond with each other while doing it.”
