Surprise met some of the students that set foot in Cathedral over the years as they realized that Cathedral (previously) did not offer any band or orchestra programs. Alum Liv Paggiarino said that when she first arrived on campus, because she had been in band in middle school, she “expected high school to have one too.” Senior Ellie Jones recalled that while the absence wasn’t something that immediately came into her mind, “my parents happened to ask me, because my dad was on marching band in high school and my mom was a flag twirler and color guard.” Many high schools all over the country provide band programs for their students, including marching bands and jazz bands.

Noting the absence of such programs in the previous years and recalling her past experiences in conducting and directing in various settings ranging from grade school all the way to college, Ms. Jessica Swift began implementing steps to establish a CCHS high school band and orchestra this year. “I’ve seen some great public school programs,” she said. “I’m now looking forward to taking those models and helping things grow here from what I’ve seen elsewhere.”

The two main purposes for the new band and orchestra are, according to Ms. Swift, to provide students unfamiliar with music a chance to learn while also being able to identify the students with experience in music that were unable to sign up previously. “I’m also shopping around for any student mentors that have instrumental experience and might want to help out,” Ms. Swift added.

Sessions for the band and orchestra were to start on October 6th, with Mondays and Wednesdays for orchestra and Tuesdays and Thursdays for band at 7:15 to 7:45 in the morning. Ms. Swift said that the morning practices were due to many of her interested students being unable to attend after school due to other commitments. Regardless, Ms. Swift wants to provide a strong ensemble experience and offer students a foundation to continue a performance class next year. “I think students who want to do music either don’t know we [now] have it or didn’t know they could start in high school,” she said. “I played piano since I was five, but started playing the French horn in high school. So this year is about planting a lot of seeds.”

The other part of the program, an outreach honor band and orchestra, is for potential future Cathedral students. Reaching out to the many middle school students from all over the county, the program hopes to function as a way to provide future students with an environment of music at Cathedral. “By the time they get to Cathedral, they’ll have an year or two of experience and a physical connection to school,” Ms. Swift explained. Those students would meet after school on Thursdays at Cathedral.

Rentals will also be available for students who wish to join. Bertrand’s Music, a music store that provides band and orchestra rentals, made an arrangement with Cathedral that functions as a rent-to-own system with a $15-20 fee for an instrument per month. After the delegated months of the rental are up, Bertrand trades the rental instrument for a new one. “It’s almost like you’ve been leasing a car for a few years, then when you get to paying it off they trade you a new one with no miles on it,” Ms. Swift said. “It’s pretty unusual.” Students will be able to choose any instrument they wish to learn for the program, giving them the chance to try out any instrument that Bertrand’s Music can provide.

Many students from Ms. Swift’s Foundations class are currently involved in the newly established band and orchestra. In order to determine which instruments they wanted to play, students came over to the theater the week before the program started and tried out the an assortment of instruments that were provided. The students in the class will receive extra credit after completing the required semester, and can then continue to be in the program if they wish.

As for the future of the band and orchestra programs, Ms. Swift is hoping that they can be established as classes next year. “Mr. [Pat] Robell and I have been working well together in supporting each other’s programs,” Ms. Swift said. Mr. Robell even hopes to have the new band and orchestra perform with the Schola during liturgy sometime in the future. “I went to a private Catholic middle school, then went to a public high school in order to do music,” said Ms. Swift. “I think it’s very poetic to now be able to come to a Catholic high school as a teacher and offer music like this.”