Pa.’s high school bands find alternate ways to practice, perform
The drill for high school marching bands will be very different this season.
Competitions are mostly canceled.
Football games are expected to kick off at the end of August, but marching bands would account for a big chunk of the 250-person limit on stadium crowds and may or may not perform.
And some bands won’t be in full strength when they do perform.
When Pennsylvania schools were closed to help slow the spread of the coronavirus March 13, the state order also closed down spring band recruitment.
On top of that, some musicians have decided not to participate this year.
“We have had a few students who, because of COVID, don’t want to do band this year. And I respect that 110%” said Brian Knouse, first-year director of the Northwestern High School Marching Band. Knouse previously was the band’s assistant director.
The Seneca High School Marching Band also lost several musicians, Director Jim Caspar said.
The band has about 35 members.
“A few just didn’t feel safe doing band this year. Everybody has to make the best decision they can based on what’s best for them,” he said.
Band camp: In step with safety
Band camps, most of them beginning in August, also will be different.
Some school districts have cut back on the hours that bands can practice. And student musicians will wear masks when they can and will keep their distance from each other during drills.
“A lot of my camp this year will be about teaching the kids how to be physically distanced and still play music, and how to clean their instruments,” said Jake Malec, director of the 83-member General McLane Marching Band.
Northwestern High School is among schools compressing the schedule for traditionally day-long band camps. The Northwestern band will begin 2-hour evening practices in August.
“We usually do a two-week band camp but this year will do a week of evening rehearsals with a half-hour built in for daily coronavirus wellness checks,” Knouse said. “With 60 kids, almost, in the band, we’ll need to find an efficient way of getting them all through that.”
The wellness checks are required by the school district. Other districts plan similar screenings including simple health questionnaires and temperature-taking recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations guidelines.
“The safety of our students is our number one priority,” McDowell High School Athletic Director Mark Becker said.
Focus on halftime and community
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association expects that there will be high school football this fall, but that doesn’t mean marching bands will perform at halftime.
State COVID-19 regulations limit public gatherings to 250 people, and just fielding football teams and support staff will rapidly whittle that number.
“Obviously 250 people isn’t a huge number. You add up both teams, coaches, staff, trainers, school administration, press and ambulance staff there, and that’s a big part of that number,” Seneca’s Caspar said.
“We’re hoping at least to be able to play at home games,” he said.
There will be no performances by visiting bands.
Including musicians, color guard, staff and parents, “250 people is two good-sized marching bands,” Northwestern’s Knouse said.
Bands may do more community performances this fall.
“We can still do things like outdoor performances and visits to the elementary schools,” said David Tatar, director of the 50-member Fort LeBoeuf High School Marching Band.
Virtual performances and planning
The Lakeshore Marching Band Association this week canceled its fall band competitions.
The association traditionally sponsors competitions for about 25 high school bands, mostly from Erie and Crawford counties.
LMBA competitions had been planned at General McLane, McDowell and Bradford high schools in September and at Girard, North East, Meadville and Harbor Creek high schools in October. The annual LMBA Championships at Erie’s Veterans Stadium would have ended the season Oct. 31.
“Alternative” performances haven’t been ruled out, LMBA’s executive board said in its announcement.
That’s good news in what’s already shaping up to be an abbreviated season.
"I am hopeful that we can offer marching band to our Erie students, whether in person, virtually or something to provide our students with the musical, marching and artistic skills that the marching band activity brings to the field and the community,” Erie High School Marching Band Director Erick Nicklas said.
Erie-area band directors meeting online to share preparations and plans have talked about the possibility of staging virtual competitions.
“There could be a way to submit videos of bands performing and have them critiqued by judges, or something like that,” said Malec, of General McLane. “Like a lot of other things this season, we don’t know if that can happen.”
That conversation is ongoing, Girard High School Marching Band Director Steven Nawrocki said.
“Members of our group also are working on whether performances might at least be televised,” he said. “And if it comes down to livestreaming football games, we probably could livestream the bands, too.”
Some band directors have been meeting with their musicians and band parents online.
Malec and his staff also held a virtual mini-camp for band students this spring.
“Normally we start band the week after school ends, and at band camp introduce all the music to students and introduce freshmen to marching,” he said. “This year we did a virtual mini-camp where we met and talked about what we’ll be doing. We also have Theory Thursdays’ meetings to keep in touch and a once-a-month band parent meeting.”
The high notes
The Fort LeBoeuf band held its third weekly practice this week, and the atmosphere was upbeat, said Lelani Merkle, 17, a senior in the band color guard. Most band members had not seen each other since classes ended in March and are excited to be together again, even in an abbreviated season.
“I’m just glad we’ll have a season at all,” Merkle said. “It’s much needed.”
For band staff, too, said Girard’s Nawrocki.
The Girard Marching Band began weekly practices last week.
“We’ve spent the last couple months kind of down about the fact that we’ve been locked in and haven’t gotten to see students even in a virtual way,” he said. “When we finally got back to practice, it was a really happy time.
“I’d missed that,” Nawrocki said. “It’s what I do. Teaching is all about being with the kids and being present in their lives.”
Contact Valerie Myers at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @ETNmyers.