The Band just can’t fit in the room, with its 114 players nearing the room’s maximum capacity under the fire code. There are literally 15 people who don’t get to sit down. So plans are being made to create another band class, called the Wind Ensemble, to reduce the problematic class size to two much more manageable and instructionally appropriate classes.
Meanwhile, the String Orchestra and Concert Choir are jumping on the bandwagon, each splitting into two separate ensembles—String Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Concert Choir, and Chorale. Although the Orchestra and Choir do not have as big of a size problem as the Band, the entire department faculty believes the additional classes are necessary for better differentiate instruction. Consistency across the department would also make the transition less of a logistical nightmare, except even as it stands now, the plan’s logistics still aren’t all that simple.
Trying to stay budget-neutral—meaning that the spending would not increase at the department level—adding three classes is a challenging feat, according to Interim Director of Fine and Performing Arts Stephen Beamish. While the current IHS teachers would conduct all ensembles, some sectionals may be led by others from elsewhere within the district. As summarized by Beamish, “It may very well be the case that current elementary- and middle-school teachers will teach the lower-level high-school ensembles.”
The district has been eyeing this comprehensive change for years prior to Beamish assuming his position. While the split ensembles were offered in the 2014–15 program of studies, the plan fell through when the administration failed to fit these additional courses in the eight-period school day. Beamish said he will have no idea whether the plan will work until late May or June.
Band director Nicki Zawel, who has seen the band grow from 63 to over a hundred during her eight years here, has especially been eager for this change. “We don’t fit on the stage in a way that’s best for posture,” Zawel said. “We are cramped to the point that we sometimes do not have the ability to play the way that we should be playing.” Not only is space a major concern, differentiated instruction is difficult to achieve in such a mega-sized ensemble. “If you look at other successful programs across the nation, their concert bands peak out at 80,” she said, adding that conductors can only have one-on-one contact with so many students. With fewer students in each class—about 46 in the Wind Ensemble and the rest in the Concert Band—Zawel would be better able to help with fingering and embouchure specific to each student’s instrument and provide each student with repertoire that is appropriately challenging for them.
In Band, Orchestra, and Choir, the teacher of each ensemble gave current students recommendations on their placements in either division based on seniority, ability and level of playing, and balance of each group’s instrumentation. The added ensembles—Wind Ensemble, String Orchestra, and Chorale—would demand higher technical proficiency and musical commitment. “We foresee those upper-level ensembles as being level five or level six from the NYSSMA manual,” Beamish said, adding that the Chamber Orchestra would be performing professional-level literature. All incoming freshmen would be placed in the base ensemble, but they could audition to be placed in the upper level. For the Choir, adding Chorale will mean that choir students who have already reached a certain proficiency level can now be a group themselves, choir director Kristin Zaryski said. “So, the kids who are new to choir also have a place where they can learn.”
Beamish said the students’ placement in either of the two levels would be determined by an evaluation based on a standard rubric. Ideally, all students ready to perform the literature would be placed in the upper-level ensemble regardless of the size of each ensemble. Meanwhile, Zawel said the Wind Ensemble will have a fixed instrumentation with 40 to 50 players, as it will be performing repertoire specifically written for its type of ensemble. Orchestra director Samantha Hecht said the Chamber Orchestra would be slightly smaller than the String Orchestra, with about 10 to 15 fewer students. For Choir, Zaryski said the upper-level class will consist of about 60 students, while the Concert Choir will be slightly smaller at around 40.
Still, some students seemed to react negatively to the plan. Despite some perceived differences in quality and level of each ensemble, Zawel said both the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble would have the same amount of priority, level of instruction, and quality of literature. In the Band, Zawel said there were two discussions last year and once this year with the Band and its 23-member leadership team regarding the issue. Students were unsure what the split would look and feel like. “You can’t erase everybody’s fears of the unknown, but I think that we trust each other enough and that they trust me enough to know that they will have a positive outcome,” she said. According to Hecht, in an informal survey conducted last year, she found that most underclassmen in Orchestra opposed the split while most upperclassmen favored it.
Whether the plan will have unintended negative consequences, such as a loss of sense of community in each ensemble or a new sense of unfairness between the two levels of each ensemble, remains to be seen.