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sk anyone what makes a high school footballgame, and you just might be surprised by theanswer. It's likely they won't say the sport itself,
but all the pomp that celebrates the circumstance. What'sa half time for anyway? loud music, twirling, peppycheerleaders, a swirling color guard of flags and riflesall to get a rowdy crowd even more pumped up to routefor their team. Those football players work hard anddeserve lots of credit, but even they feed off " da noize."
Jessica Shearer is all about it, though as
!oran's band director she prefers her noise on
pitch without ruling out "da fun." "Channel
your inner goofiness!" she yeils to her band
kids as they practice minutes before their
season's first pep rally. After an enthusiastic
renditi.on of the r98os favorite "Safety
Dance," Shearer can't help but get swept up.
"Perfectl" She sings back. "I'm feeling a lot of
love for you right now."
The band has a motto hanging on a felt
banner in the music room: "One band.
One side. One love." It's a band family that
18 Milford Living . Autumn
hangs together, Iaughs together, and dances
together. As the energy heats up with pop
band LMFAO's "Party Rock" anthem, so do
the kids. The horn section sways back and
forth in unison, a sea of red shirts dressed for
the pep rally are shufflin', singing infectious
lyrics, dancing, and having a good old time.
"I like the energy," beams Shearer. "It was
almost a miracle." But not quite, as she
continues to give directions, asking for crisper
endings until they nail it and get ready to
"shufJle in" to the gym for the pep rally. After
all, perfectionism does have a place in the
"pep:'
f; Strive and Thrive3 It *rrn't always this way for Shearer.6'I B.li.n. it or not there was a time she
F neeaea to recruit kids to play in the band.l3 "It's definitely been an evolution," she
il
ozzo
o
F
lo
admits. Shearer started at Foran in zoo4
',rlth only twenty-nine kids. "That first year
scme kids didn't even know how to play an
=strument and I worked with them." Nine
rears later, she has grown the program to
sixty-nine kids. It's because band leaders
grve up countless hours to make their
programs successful. They hold workshops,
teach kids how to play instruments they've
never heard of, and offer up weeknights
and weekends to get it right.
Foran High School principal John Barile
is quick to point out Shearer's dedication.'She can often be found long after the
school day or on weekends, working
with students and parents or on her
own preparing for upcoming Iessons
or performances." This is really no big
deal to band leaders. It's the love ofthe
music, hearing that sweet, sweet note
after mentoring a kid for months to get
there-and the overwhelming sense ofa community partnership comprised of
students, teachers, administrators, and
of course, parents. Shearer is actually a
second generation band director. She grew
up in Massachusetts watching her father
direct the East Longmeadow High School
band. It's in her blood.
A Community ThingPaul Marino grew up in the Milford
community. He went to Jonathan Law,
taught at Law, and has been the band
director at Law since r988. He's seen so
many structural changes through the
years, from a large jazzhorn ensemble to
a huge percussion section. Each year is
The Foran Band performs in Washington D.C.
at the WIVII memorial.
different because each member's interests
are different. You cater to what you have,
he says. A tall, jovial guy whose life is so
completely woven into Milford's fabric,
he knows everyone and knows what ittakes to make his band successful Law
mostly focuses on the marching aspect
while Foran's attention is placed primarilyon the concert level. Both offer jazz and
concert. And though they may be differentin style-the two face similar challenges
with the ebb and flow of program changes."My goal year after to year is to justpresent a balanced program," says Marino.-I started with sixteen kids. Now there are
about fifty." There were more, up to ro8, he
sa15. 5.,, kids have harder demands now.
i: :akes a lot to be a superkid who can do
every*J-dng. "Something's got to give."Kids who make up band...'. Participate in sports, clubs, volunteer
work, all in addition to band
', Are disciplined, passionate, and hard-workingTendto do well in schoolHave a sense of pride and camaraderie
Have atremendous sense of school spiritOft en organize band-related activitiesoutside of school (this year Foran
participated in Relay for Life: laworganized a coat drive for HurricaneSandy victims)
Unraiveringit takes a huge level of commitment to
cc band, without a doubt. Some of these
irjds are playing sports too, or have a heavy
:-omework load, and all add community
a
&
20 Mllford Living . lI'inter
::rvice to the mix. Plus, there's bottle
:rives, candy drives, selling cookie dough,
rolunteer nights at Rita's and Red Robin
::staurants-all fundraisers that pay f.or
some expenses so each band is able to
:cmpete and grow musically, in state and
:::t. With all this going on, it's only natural
:c ask-where do they find the time to
practice? "We just accommodate schedules
so each kid who wants to be in the band
can," says Marino.
Those that do, reap the rewards. Law's
Marching Band travels all over the tri-state
area to compete and has won many juried
competitions. Together with the Color
Guard, the group performs through the
Musical Arts Conference (MAC) in a 7-8 week
performance schedule, delivering ro-minute
shows. Fact: it is widely considered one of
the best marching bands in the state. Ioran's
band has its own set of esteemed recogni-
tions. It was asked to play at the World War
II Memorial in Washington, D.C., the Rock
'n Roll Hall of Fame, Walt Disney World
:.-: Living 2./
in Orlando, and Connecticut
Governor's Mansion. It's these
honors that make a school and
community proud-and all the
hard work worth the trouble.
Band is an actual class in both
schools, and both offer march-
lng, concert, and jazzband,
catering to the instruments the
klds know how to play.
"Band is a thing I am really
:roud to be a part of," says-arly Burriesci, band president
a:.d senior at Foran. "I love the
:-nily environment. You can
:: stressed in high school and',',-::en you come to band you
,c:,cw that people here care
a: cut you." There is no hier-
=::hy, no bossing each other
-rund. There's just a genuine
: asslon for music. It's like the
:a:rily whose house you'd visitard never want to leave they-,,,-ere that awesome.
Burriesci is a self-taught
:rombone player who just
always wanted tobe in a jazz
group, so she "picked it up."
J azz b and instruments include
trombone, saxophone, trum-
pet, double bass, and clarinet,
her principal instrument.
Burriesci says the skills she
has acquired through band are
ones she will use her entire
life. In a lot of ways, band is
a diverse group with a wide
variety of interests across spec-
trum. These are students who embrace op-
portunity and work hard. There is a sense
of pride and commitment to each school
and most of all, to themselves. "Band kids
are just good kids," said Marino. "Kids withgreat integrity, whether they come here
with it or learn from it here," adds Shearer.
22 Milford Living . Winter'
Law Band Championship photos throughout the years
fooking GoodA band that works well together looks
good together, and that means a uniforrr-
And they aren't always pretty. Iike lt'herShearer first got to Foran, bolero bloi.Lses
were all the rage. "They whore white a:-:navy pants with a white stripe and rei s:
quined gauntlets with whitegloves," she says. And then
there was that white plastic
hat with red-sequined trim..."What teen wants to wearplastic cowboy hats?" said
Shearer. Strive and thrive isthe school's motto, so things
changed, but only modestly.
Red and blue are the school
colors. The pants stayed.
The red sequined hat brimdidn't.
Since Jonathan Law has
been around for fifty years,
it's seen a uniform evolutionthat went from skirts for the
ladies to pants and a more
modernized militaristic feel
of the school colors gold
and black. Since a marching
band historically evolved
from armies, it ceremonially
borrows the look and uses
the same commands duringshows: "Attention!" "Forward
marchl" Last year's show was
a reference to Stonehenge;
this year's Dante's Inferno,
a three-part heaven, hell,
f pur8atory theme. Hell hath
E no furv...than the effects ofm3 drums with big booming
i crescendos. Think loud
h percussion rounded out withU.! the subtlety oftriangles andu symbols. "The bigger the
effect on people, the more
powerful the show," says
Raci-e- Gomes, junior section leader, drums.
Br.l:s meant to entertain, which
-:a:.s -:,a:-<
to the pomp and circumstance.''-: s ab:ut entertaining the crowd," says
Si:-::. .So everyone can have fun." And,
--: ::-::,.e. that means having a good old
-:.: ::-ebrating the music.@