Drum Majors

• Conduct the band and make sure everybody stays on time

Senior Jayna Schwartz

How do you express yourself artistically while doing music? 

“So [Scott Freeby] really emphasized this throughout this season. He told us to go watch a bunch of old videos of like the Drum Corps International performing. The music that we’re playing is pretty emotional and in order to kind of get the rest of the band into it, you have to really throw a lot of yourself into it. It’s a little bit like dance in a way.”

What do you want other people to know about your music?

“I would say a Drum Majors role is not only to conduct but also kind of [to assist] the director. I would say the band, our main mission is to bring joy to the school. Music creates kind of a space like in a football game, music is what I think makes the atmosphere really cool. I enjoy doing that and bringing that to the rest of the community as well.”

What is your favorite part about a leader in the band?

“I thought that when I first got this position my favorite part was like getting closer to the directors and being able to like connect to [a] whole bunch of different people, but I think my favorite part [now] is kind of like the community that you get. You’re all like united and like we all really love band so it kind of binded us together. Me and the other Drum Majors [Brandt] and [Fontanini] have become really close over the course of this season.”

Senior Joshua Brandt

How do you express yourself artistically while doing music? 

“So though every piece of music is written the same, all of them have the same notes, we learned that it’s a lot more than the notes. You have to add your own personal little touches on it. You have to figure out what your favorite part is and like when to really grow and when to die down too. And that’s a big way you can express yourself is through the music, kind of making your own artistic choices”

What do you want other people to know about your music?

“So especially in Marching Band, we go out there on Friday night because we want everybody to have a good time. We want everybody to like kind of like hum our little show tunes that we do when they leave the stadium. We want them excited for the football game. I think [that’s] our main purpose, especially in Marching Band, is to make sure everybody is super happy and super excited. And we do that by being loud and having lots of fun.”

What is your favorite part about a leader in the band?

“I really like teaching everybody. I like making sure that everyone knows like how they can be getting better and what steps they can take. I like making sure everybody is all good and band kids are amazing to hang around so it’s a lot of fun. So I really like [the] people.”

Senior Margaret Fontanini

How do you express yourself artistically while doing music? 

“I think that music helps me to express myself because its always been a part of my life since 5th grade. It’s a really good way for me to kind of relax and do what I enjoy doing.”

What do you want other people to know about your music?

“Well as a Drum Major, I guess I want people to know how much work we put in. How hard it is to do what we do. I know people will be like ‘well marching band is not a sport you know’, but it does take a lot of work. We’re really proud of what we do.”

What is your favorite part about a leader in the band?

“I think my favorite part is just getting to meet everyone. A lot of younger underclassmen will look to me to see what to do and to know how to handle different situations. I like being that for other people.”