As the beautiful and moving pieces of music are played at the Orchard Park High School holiday concert, did you ever pause and wonder: How did the directors choose the music for this concert? With one song leading into the next, and the songs all following a theme, there’s no way they just picked these randomly.
Most of the time music selection is not random; it’s actually the hard work of the directors. Months before the concert is set to take place, the directors already have an idea as to what they want their concert to be like; then, it’s up to them to make it happen. To start this process, they have to have a theme to follow. There are many themes to choose from at any given point during the year. The concert theme is typically centered around an upcoming holiday, the celebration of a certain composer, or the celebration of an instrument. “I think the themes are fun. The first concert this year was huge but still fun,” said trumpet player Aedan Brockmin.
After choosing a theme, the director takes a look at his or her band. So for example, if a band has more experienced trombones than clarinets, then the director is more likely to choose pieces that lean into the trombonists’ skills. Directors also have to understand their band’s limits. If a band is relatively young, then it may struggle with harder pieces compared to an older, more experienced band. “I think the directors do a good job finding the band’s strengths and choosing songs in the right difficulty for us,” said Ben Kasprowics.
Keeping in mind the theme of the concert and the skill of their band, the directors then try to diversify the range of composers they choose from. They want the students to experience modern and old pieces as well as different composers from across the world. This also means finding pieces of music that are of a fine quality. “We always have quality music, the directors do a great job of finding great pieces,” said Anderson Byrd when asked his opinion on the quality of music the directors choose. The skills of the composer also determine how beautiful a piece can be. If not careful, directors could get a piece of music that is poorly composed, making it tough for the students to play.
One of the important things a director has to think of, after everything mentioned here, is budget. If the school doesn’t have a certain piece of music in its lockers already, the director has to buy it. Depending on the piece, it can be quite expensive, ranging anywhere from $50 to $300. The cost of possible instrument repairs or new instruments must be considered, too, though luckily the school doesn’t often have to buy instruments.
After all these steps, the directors finally have a concert planned. Now the process of playing the music with their students, fixing tiny mistakes, and finally performing the pieces starts. With so much work going into just choosing the music alone, it’s easy to see how talented our music directors are.
