Interview with Mr. Benz

Have you found the music program at South Kingstown High School different in any way to other schools you’ve taught at?

“It’s more diverse, so that would be the first thing. Not a lot of schools have a string program, so the fact that we have strings makes us unique. In addition to having a comprehensive band program, a large choir and jazz choir, as well as the pit orchestra, I would say our program is diverse and offers a lot of opportunities. Not to mention the electives that are not ensemble classes, like guitar, piano and music tech. So yes, it [the music program] is more inclusive because it is so diverse.”

Is there any particular music event that you look forward to during the school year?

 “Well, I really look forward to the spring concert in March, because that’s the concert where we play our most interesting, our most challenging,  and our most impressive music. I mean, of all the concerts we do, I like that one the most, but I also enjoy the enthusiasm that the kids bring to everything else we do, whether it’s the holiday concert, the musical, or the pops concert. The nice thing is that each concert appeals to different people for different reasons; some kids will look forward to one concert over another because of the kind of music they get to perform or because of the buzz in the community.”

If a student hasn’t had prior experience with music and they want to start, what classes at SK might you recommend they take? 

     “So, as you know, we deliberately make time in our teaching schedule to offer classes for students that have little or no experience making music. That’s important to me, philosophically important to Mr. Muir and I. [It is important] that we offer Guitar 1; you potentially could have never touched a guitar before, and we could teach you how to play. Same thing with Piano: you know what a piano looks like but potentially could never have touched it before, and you could learn some really cool things and learn enough to want to continue, either on your own or with other types of experiences. We also have Music Tech class, which really is all about harnessing technology to make music and doing production work, whether that be mixing or doing looping sequences or compositions, and it’s a project-based class, always hands-on. So that’s another opportunity for students with little or no experience, but the great thing about all of those classes is that if you have experience you will get even more out of it, know what I mean? It's not common for a student to come into grade nine that did not want to be part of the chorus, part of the orchestra, part of the band, and didn’t do it at some point. What is common is that maybe they checked out for a year or two, and then they want to get back in, so I would say if they wanted to be a part of the band or orchestra, that would be very difficult to do as a beginner at the high school level. My recommendation would be to see me, and I could hook them up with a private instructor to get their skill up to a level where they feel like they can contribute and not be lost. I’ve done that on occasion with students who came in. 

     “Also, Mr. Muir would tell you that if you have a voice, you could be in the chorus class, and the great thing about the chorus class is that he teaches, not only how to use your voice, but how to be musically literate. So if you have the right attitude and you want to make music, and you want to use your voice to sing with us, we can take kids with no experience. Instrumentally, it's a little tough, because our instrumental groups are at an appropriate high school level where it is hard to just drop in as a beginner. But, the whole thing is your attitude; if you love music and you're willing to work at it, then we can accommodate almost anybody.”

Why is it required for first year players in Symphony Orchestra to also join either Concert Band or String Ensemble?

     “In my short time at SKHS, I have grown to appreciate the difficulty and complexity of the high school orchestra music we play. Making that jump from grade 8 to 9  can be a big technical challenge for some students, and the strings class allows students to practice the skills and techniques needed to play at the high school level.

     “Likewise, Symphony Orchestra music for winds is uniquely challenging. You’re playing in keys that are not very comfortable for wind players. So without getting too technical about it, string music is generally in sharp keys because it corresponds with the open strings...it’s the sweet spot for strings. Those keys allow you to sound resonate and in tune. But for wind players it means you might be in really complex keys of four or five sharps. Also, there are less winds in Orchestra than in band, so their parts are more exposed and soloistic at times. So, you really need more experience to play in the Symphony Orchestra. That’s the reason for the required classes."

Do you have any concerns about the future of the program? 

     “One potential concern is that our population in the district has been declining over the years, and [South Kingstown High School] has a lot of different groups to fill with students. It is becoming a challenge because we need a certain amount of students. For instance, in our band, orchestra, and jazz band, we need trombone players. You can’t really be a legitimate symphony orchestra without low brass players, and we have one senior on the trombone. 

     “So the one concern that I have is getting enough kids to play a wide variety of instruments to fill all of the groups. And that’s something that I’ve been in communication with the other music teachers about, and I’m not sure that there’s anything easy that can be done. [Mr. Benz points to the trombone propped up on a stand in his office.] That trombone is sitting there because I’ve been trying to change kids to trombone. So I give trombone lessons every week after school to students. It’s tough, because you can’t have a jazz band without trombones, you can’t have a band without trombones, and you can’t have a symphony without trombones. So that would be my biggest challenge, just trying to get kids to understand and get enough students on different instruments. We sort of have that problem in orchestra, in that for every cello and viola, we have three violinists. So the low strings are a challenge, getting kids to play the low brass is a challenge, and getting enough clarinet players for the band can be a challenge. We want you to play a new instrument or try a new instrument. Students often form a connection or an identity with one instrument for a couple of years, and it’s really hard to get them to think differently. 

     “Another concern is trying to retain kids who start in the program in middle school; I try to keep them playing. I came from a school where there weren’t a lot of great electives to take and as a result, 65% of the student body was playing in the band or singing in the choir. It was a school of 500 kids, and we had 120 kids in the band and about 200 in the chorus. But the trade-off is that those kids didn’t have a fraction of the cool electives that are offered here. This school is twice the size; we have four art teachers, and in that school we only had one. We have a school with a lot going on, with a lot of demands on students, and with a lot of opportunities. Every week, there’s something going on, which is kind of cool. 

     “One of the challenges that Mr. Muir and I have is creating some buzz about the music program. If kids are excited about what they’re doing, then they’ll bring their parents to the concert, and the parents will bring their friends. So I think over the past couple of years we have created a little more of that energy and that buzz. The next thing is to try and carve out our little niche in the community. This is a cool thing that’s going on, we want concerts to be events, we want people to want to come and go, ‘Wow, that was awesome!’ We want people to walk away not only impressed with what students can do, but also to be enthusiastic about music in the community.”

Is there anything you would want incoming students to know about the music program?

     “Yeah, I would say that Mr. Muir and I are pretty accessible to our students or anybody, so if they have questions then they should come and talk to us. One could say that I’m pretty intense; yeah, I know I am. But I want my students to be awesome! That’s where it comes from. Mr. Muir can get that way too, because he wants everything we do with students to be awesome. If you want to be a part of something great, you should consider joining the South Kingstown Music Program. But if you have any questions, come and talk to Mr. Muir or myself. You’ll find that we will be as accommodating as we need to be to make sure that a student who wants to be a musician and wants to perform with us can do so.”

You can contact Mr. Benz at fbenz@sksd-ri.net and Mr. Muir at rmuir@sksd-ri.net