Home‎ > ‎

My Musical History

My husband Scott and I are both musicians and currently play in a local community concert band.  This is my musical story, here is his.

1980s
  • From a very early age I remember going with parents to concerts and parades with the band they played in.  They both played trumpet in the Canton Community Band / Edward J. Beatty Post 24 American Legion  Band in Canton, MA.  My sisters and I would sit in the grass (although my sisters were known to sit on my mom's lap while she was playing) listening to concerts or being pulled in a wagon or marching along side the band in parades.  This started my love of music.  When I was old enough, I carried the band's banner for parades.  If memory serves I did this from the time I was 6 or 7 until I was 14.  Later, when I was good enough I played trumpet and baritone in the band.  I played with the group in the summers until high school when the marching band practiced on the same night.
  • In third grade I started playing the trumpet (a cornet actually).  Then in 4th grade we had beginners band, and then 5th and 6th combined band.  I took trumpet lessons in a group with Mr. Farmer in 3rd (and maybe 4th) grade and then Mr. John Kearns after that.  Mr. Kearns was also our band director at the J.H. Gibbons School in Stoughton, MA.
  • In 7th grade it was time for Jr. High School and a combined band of 7th graders from all 6 elementary schools.  I didn't want to be one of 30+ trumpets and there were only 2 trombone players. So one day I went to school with my cornet and came home with my cornet and a baritone. (big size difference especially for a "little" girl of 4'8" or so everyone said).  Mr. John Kearns was the conductor then too.  In 8th grade I was in 8th grade band under the direction of Mr. Ray Ponte and the  Jr. High Jazz band directed by Kearns.
1990s
  • At Stoughton High School [Music Department] I was in the marching band and concert band for all 4 years. The marching and concert bands were directed by Mr. Ron Christanson with help from Mr. Steve Dorgan.  There were also people who wrote and taught us the field show for marching band.  My senior year I learned how to read bass clef (thanks to lesson teacher Mr. Bob Nichols) and played valve trombone in the show choir pitt band under the direction of Mrs. D'Angelo.  Marching band was by far the most challenging and fun things to do musically.  We performed some great field shows and competed in NESBA (New England Scholastic Band Association) my sophomore, junior, and senior years.  My freshman year we only performed at football games.  Our NESBA field shows were Phantom of the Opera, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Chase. 
  • When I got to college (St. Lawrence University, in Canton NY) I discovered that there really wasn't a band.  There had been remnants of a Pep Band that was usually directed by a music student from Crane School of Music, but that very few SLU returned after a year.  A friend (Nate Mastro) and I sought out to make this a viable group to play at hockey games.  We weren't the most successful, but we did manage to field a group of musicians for many home games and get people to return for the next season.  Sometimes we had more people at rehearsal then would show up for games, but music was important to us, so we made an effort to keep it going.  My senior year we didn't have enough money to rent a baritone for a freshman who needed one, so I lent him my horn and played a tuba that had been given to the Pep Band at some point in the past.  That was an experience and a tuba is much bigger than a baritone (At least I had grown some since 7th grade and was now 5')

2000s
  • Now the pep band music wasn't the most challenging and in some senses I wasn't really playing all that often in college and barely practiced outside of rehearsal, so when I got to grad school at the University of Pittsburgh, I didn't seek out a band to play in.  This was probably a big mistake, but we all make mistakes.
  • In the summer of 2000 I got married, and as a wedding present, my husband Scott retrieved my baritone from my parents house and cleaned it up into playing condition (with advice from some brass playing friends of his).  He also got me a gig bag to carry the horn in since it's case was in pretty bad shape.  And when we returned from our honeymoon he took me to a concert of the band he played in (unfortunately it was rained out, but I met some people) and in a couple of weeks I was at rehearsal and playing again.  This time with the  Easton Municipal Band in Easton PA under the direction of Olwen Bougher.  Scott played clarinet while I was in the band with him, but he had played saxophone in the previous years with the group.
  • After a year (for me) we moved to Pittsburgh, PA and joined the East Winds Symphonic Band that rehearses in Forest Hills under the direction of Susan Sands.  I'm still playing baritone, but Scott  plays either clarinet, bass clarinet, or saxophone depending on what is needed (sometimes switching between 2 on the same piece).   He just finished 2 3 year terms on the band board.  He is our Concert Manager.
  • We are also active in the organization of the Three Rivers Community Band Festival
  • We are also working with someone from another regional band in trying to create a website with a newsletter for community bands in the south western Pennsylvania region. Southwestern Pennsylvania Band Partners is this organization.
  • In 2006 we attended the Association of Concert Bands Convention in Williamsport, PA.  In 2008 our band, the East Winds Symphonic Band, was selected to perform at the ACB Convention in Corning NY.  At this convention, I also performed with 138 other musicians in the Convention Band under the baton of Allan McMurray.
  • In June 2008, I had some other playing opportunities - one was in the Alumni Band for the retirement concert for Ron Christianson and Stoughton High School.  The other was at the North Central Ohio Adult Music Camp in Ashland Ohio.  The alumni concert was fun and it was great to honor such a great music educator in that way. It was fun to play with some old friends and interesting to be sitting near former teachers Ray Ponte and Steve Dorgan rather than having them at the conductors podium.  Band Camp was fun in many ways.  It was something my husband had done the previous summer and this year we got to go together.  I wrote a reflections article on this for my SWPABP newsletter.  It can be found here.
  • In the fall of 2008 I joined the Delmont Concert Band that is under the direction of Lois Snyder.
  • In January 2009, we learned that our band (East Winds Symphonic Band) was awarded the Sudler Silver Scroll Award that is administered by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation.  We are excited and very honored to receive this prestigious award.
  • In March 2009 I agreed to become the Regional Membership Chair for Pennsylvania for the Association of Concert Bands.