By:Brian Shappell
Nothing but sweet sounds
are coming from the Cranbury
School band
room.
Anoth
er busy academic year at the school
is drawing to a close on the heels of
the Spring Concert and the band’s
annual competition in Kutztown,
Pa.
“There’s
a lot of support here — this is a
fantastic town,” said Scott Grimal
di. “It is both serious and a lot of
fun for the kids. They have a good
time with it.”
There are currently five facets of
the instrumental music program,
lead by music teachers Mr. Grimal
di and Jon McClernan. Mr. Grimal
di oversees the Jazz Orchestra, as
well as the Cadet and Viking Bands
for fifth- and fourth-graders, re
spectively. The Concert Band,
made up of students from the sev
enth and eighth grades, and the Co
lonial Band, consisting exclusively
of sixth-graders, are lead by Mr.
McClernan. The groups range in
skill level and age, beginning with
fourth-graders.
&nb
sp;“It’s nice to see that in every
grade, (the music program) is ex
panding,” Mr. Grimaldi said. “Mu
sic is alive and well
here.”
Three
of the bands netted medals at the
recent Music in the Parks Competi
tion held jointly at Kutztown Uni
versity and Fleetwood High
School. As an added bonus for the
students, the annual event is close
to all the water and thrill rides of
Dorney Park — where hundreds of
students flock following their per
formances.
“(The Kutztown trip) is always a
great experience for the kids,” said
Mr. Grimaldi. “They really get
psyched for
it.”
The Jazz
Band, which narrowly missed first
place by two points, and the Con
cert Band each garnered second
place honors this year with an supe
rior and a good rating, respectively.
The Concert Band pulled an excel
lent rating en route to a third place
finish.
“I was
very pleased with our finish and I
am proud of their progress,” Mr.
Grimaldi said. “But, kids are kids,
they wanted number
one.”
The
top-notch individual performances
for the day from Cranbury students,
according to the point system, in
cluded a pair of 9.5 rated perform
ances (out of a possible 10) by gui
tarist Jerome Walkins and Alto
Saxophone Player John Petrucelli,
as well as a perfect score from Ke
vin Golisano on drums. Unfortu
nately for these standouts, the an
nual award for best soloist was
eliminated this year.
&n
bsp; “Though there
was no award for best soloist, I felt
that (Kevin) definitely should have
got it,” Mr. Grimaldi
said
The jazz
band is the only group in the school
music program that requires try-
outs. Advanced musicians must go
through two auditions in the begin
ning of the school year. Those cho
sen play a wide variety of material,
Mr. Grimaldi
said.
“These
kids are doing high school and pro
fessional charts,” he said. “They
become stronger players from
it.”
Due to
the fact students in the Jazz Orches
tra already are involved in band and
the material is more difficult, mem
bers must put out extra effort to be
part of the distinguished group.
They typically have two more prac
tices than members of other school
bands.
“It’s a
very disciplined group to be in be
cause they have to make an addi
tional commitment,” Mr. Grimaldi
said. “Because it is smaller, the jazz
band really focuses on individual
development. It is great experience
for that age.”
Mr. McClernan also was pleased
with the competition. He was par
ticularly proud of the Concert
Band, which includes eighth-grad
ers he has taught and conducted
since they began in fourth gra
de.
“I’m hap
py with the performance; we took
the best concert band we ever had,”
Mr. McClernan said. “It is more
than an attachment, there has been
a great bonding. I’m going to miss
these students. Some fine musi
cians have devel
oped.”
The
Concert Band has worked on sever
al recognizable tunes this year in
cluding the Santana hit “Smooth”
and a James Bond Medley. Mr.
McClernan’s other band, the Colo
nial Band, made up of sixth-grad
ers, also has gotten into some pop
music in the form of songs such as
“Hot, Hot, Hot” by Buster Poindex
ter.
“Both
bands have had very good years,”
Mr. McClernan said. “I’m particu
larly happy with the Colonial Band.
They are very mature sounding for
their age
group.”
This
is the first year sixth-graders have
had a band of their own because of
the size of the Concert Band.
According to Mr. McClernan, the
move worked out even better than
expected.
“They couldn’t fit on the stage any
more,” Mr. McClernan said. “It
worked out quite well, actual
ly.”
Perhaps
Mr. Grimaldi has the opportunity to
see the widest range of talent at the
school, though. From the top solo
ists in the orchestra to the newest,
budding musicians in the Viking
Band. And he remains passionate
about his sub
jects.
In fact,
the band of the future appears to be
in great shape as a staggering 43 of
the 46 enrolled fourth-graders at
the school have taken up an instru
ment.
“I am
proud of what they are doing,” said
Mr. Grimaldi. “They have a lot of
spirit and love the music. Many of
them, and older kids, practice at
home and even take les
sons.”
All of
the members of the music program
got a chance to shine at the three
performances of the annual Spring
Concert held between May 18 and
25. Being the first performance of
the millennium, the bands had sev
eral surprises planned for the audi
ence.
Among
the pieces performed were a Latin-
jazz take on Duke Ellington’s “Car
avan” and a “20th Century Sam
pler” by the Jazz Orchestra,
“Mouthpiece Mania” and “The
Prince of Egypt” theme “When
You Believe” by the Cadets, as
well as the “William Tell Overture”
and an original rock piece by Mr.
Grimaldi titled “Percussion Con
cussion” by the young Vi
kings.
Thurs
day’s performance closed the books
on yet another enthusiastic year
from the bands of Cranbury. How
ever, next year’s Jazz Orchestra
hopefuls will be getting a packet of
material to master this summer and
the third graders will be moving up
to fill the Viking Band in no time.
