Photo By Master Sgt. Kelly Simon | Jennifer Waterhouse conducts the 10th Mountain Division and Carthage High School bands...... read more read more
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CARTHAGE, N.Y. - The 10th Mountain Division Band went back to school May 18 in Carthage. The professional players visited Jennifer Waterhouse’s music students at Carthage Central High School to teach master classes and prepare for a joint concert on May 19.
“Opportunities like this are so important because the kids are from a rural area, and (many of them) just don’t have the time or the resources to go study with a private teacher,” Waterhouse said.
She added that having the professionals in the 10th Mountain Division Band right in their “backyard” is an amazing chance for her students to learn and grow.
The Soldier / musicians don’t think its half bad either.
“The best is the one-on-one interaction with the students,” Sgt. Curran Schenck said. “They get a chance to interact with a professional musician, and we get to impart some knowledge to them.”
Schenck, a trumpet player and the operations noncommissioned officer for the 10th Mountain Division Band, worked with Waterhouse to bring this partnership to life.
“It took a lot of planning and coordination, but education outreach is a big focus for us – working with the local community … especially students,” Schenck said.
Although Waterhouse said that a lot of what the Army band members told the students was the same thing they heard throughout her classes, it helped that it was coming from someone new.
“The kids learned so much in this short time with the 10th Mountain Band,” she said. “They had a mentor on their specific instruments and got a lot of really great feedback.”
The students were focused and engaged throughout the classes as they soaked up information from the division band, and more importantly for performing, they built confidence.
“At first we didn’t really have a lot of confidence playing the music,” said Chris Debolt, a Carthage Central High School trumpet player, “but now that we have professionals in the U.S. military, it boosted our confidence and we played a little bit better.”
“I’m just going to go out there and do my thing,” alto saxophone player Cedric Smedes said with a smile.
Both students agreed they were excited and a bit nervous about the concert the next evening.
Now that Debolt has had a chance to work with professional musicians in the Army, he would not mind pursuing music in the future, he said while checking the clock on the wall, as his next class was Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.
The young musicians took off down the hall, and in true high school fashion, they argued over whose instructor throughout the master classes was better.
“Sgt. Smalls is the best,” Smedes said.
“Sgt. Schenck is better,” Debolt retorted.
“I have to disagree with that,” Smedes countered, as the conversation faded down the hall.
As they prepared for their concert May 19, high school students and Soldiers scurried around the band hall making last-minute adjustments to instruments and uniforms.
Waterhouse was the picture of calm, giving a bright smile and thumbs-up to everyone she saw.
“We’re all really excited for this concert,” she said while directing traffic through the Carthage Central High School auditorium.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Donna Clickner, commander and conductor of the 10th Mountain Division Band, was enthusiastic about their opportunity to work with the local community.
“We love these opportunities to get out into the community,” Clickner said. “Fort Drum has this great partnership with Watertown and Carthage and the surrounding communities, unlike any other post I have seen.”
The house lights dimmed and the 10th Mountain Division Band took the stage. Sgt. Andrew Killgore played emcee, and the baritone horn, for the evening.
Besides great music, the concert was punctuated with fun facts, stand-out solos, guest conductors and even a text-off.
One of the pieces the 10th Mountain Division Band played was called “The Typewriter” by composer Leroy Anderson.
Fearing the younger members of the crowd wouldn’t know what a typewriter is, the band added a fun twist with a senior member, Sgt. 1st Class James Sproul, and a junior musician, Spc. Thomas Banks. Instead of angry key-smashing on a typewriter, the text battle gave a visual to the notes being played.
After an eight-song set, the Black River Brass, a subset of the 10th Mountain Division Band, played an interlude while the high school members joined their mentors on stage.
Clickner passed the baton to Waterhouse, who brought the crowd to their feet as she conducted both bands for “Amazing Grace” and “American Salute.”
In the audience, the grins on parents of students – as well as children of Soldiers – were infectious.
Richard and Tonya Smedes came to watch and listen to their son play.
They were glad their son had a chance to work with professional musicians, and they hope his interactions throughout the two-day event encourage him to continue playing.
“I loved it, and I actually got to hear him this time; he usually kind of hides in the back behind all the screens,” Richard Smedes said.
“He uses music to relax and sort of escape,” Tonya Smedes added with motherly pride.
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2015 13:09 |
| Story ID: | 174878 |
| Location: | CARTHAGE, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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