Band uniforms from years past.
Mr. Michael Napientek, District Music Director for the Ray Unified School District, has the right idea. Start young. He has a beginner group, an intermediate group, and the high school band. At the annual concert a few weeks ago, the “start young” procedure was clearly evident. I have been to many school concerts over the years, and this was one of the best. It was best because the two younger bands show such promise. I expected bad notes, bad intonation, and questionable rhythms. Some of these things are to be expected. But my ears pricked up when I saw the groups paying attending to Mr. Napientek, following his cues, and forming a unified whole.
My ears also pricked up when the younger groups demonstrated the abilities to swell the music up and down, to play legato (smoothly) and staccato (short, crisp notes), and to keep time and make appropriate entrances. This tells me that the music program is in good hands, and that we have much to look forward to. This is a good band program founded on sustainable principles.
Two weeks from now, on Thursday, May 17, Old Time Pizza is working with the school music program to raise money for band uniforms and instruments. The high school band will give a concert in the open area next to the pizza parlor, holding forth from 6 to 7 p.m. Old Time Pizza will be open for business, and Lorraine and Gary Birkett will be giving 20 percent of the proceeds from sales made between 5 and 9 p.m. That’s four hours of serious fund raising on their part, and I hope all of us will develop a sudden hankering for pizza.
There is also a GoFundMe site to raise money for uniforms, and donations to the music program (tax deductible at that) may be made at the district office.
Uniforms aren’t cheap. They are made of good materials to last many years, and they are also cut in such a way that repeated alterations can be made to extend their lifetime. I only hope that enough uniforms will be ordered, because I predict that pretty soon we will have a much bigger high school band. By the way, uniforms are always custom orders and take a long time to fill, so we will have to wait a long time even after sufficient funds have been raised before the uniforms arrive.
I am on a diet. So far, I have lost 23 pounds. But diet-schmiet on Thursday, May 17. I’m eating pizza for the sake of music!
This is the kind of support a small area does well. Our local businesses take a real interest in our schools, and our citizens respond to such events. Let’s make sure to shop locally whenever possible. Merchants in Tucson or Phoenix don’t care about music in our school. We do.