On June 5, Seneca High School will have their spring band concert featuring the concert band ensemble, wind ensemble and percussion ensemble.
Seneca High School hosts two band concerts every year where the students showcase elaborate musical pieces for the entire community to enjoy. There is one winter concert and one spring concert, and this year’s spring concert will be held on June 5.
The performance consists of three ensembles: the concert band ensemble, the wind ensemble and the percussion ensemble.
Keith Styers, concert band and percussion ensemble director, often works with Douglas Barber, wind ensemble director, to create collaborative pieces for the students to perform.
During the winter, the choir director, Rob DiLauro, joins in to fuse the instrumental and choral performances into one. In the spring; however, there are individual concerts, with the choral concert being held on June 12 at 7 p.m. at the high school.
Styers has been teaching music for the past 16 years, and this is his 14th year in the Lenape Regional High School District.
For each concert, Styers selects musical pieces that will highlight the students’ skills, incorporating complex rhythm and challenging them to extend their range to achieve a higher level of skill.
Styers said, “I like the idea that music teaches a discipline, it teaches rigor. It’s one of the few things that you will get exactly out of it what you put into it, and I think that’s a very rewarding thing.”
Senior Justin Bischoff has been perfecting his skills with the trumpet since he was in eighth grade, and is excited to show his talents at his last high school concert, where he will perform “Carnival of Venice,” a trumpet solo.
“It’s the last hurrah. I’m going to get as much enjoyment out of it as possible.” Bischoff said.
Bischoff believes his teachers, Styers and Barber, are the best part about being in the music program at Seneca.
“They just love music,” Bischoff said. “You can’t find anyone that loves what they do more than those two guys.”
Senior Jessica Hamilton has been playing the flute since fourth grade, and looks up to the teachers as well, saying “They really push me, this is the place in school I feel most comfortable,” she continued, “it’s such a relaxing environment while still being intense because we’re working hard.”
There are approximately 90 students participating in the concert this year, including freshman Matt Miller, an All-State musician, making this the first time an All-State musician has performed with Seneca’s ensembles.
At the concert there will be performers ranging from beginners to advanced, with some participating as a hobby, others to eventually pursue music as a career.
“There will be a few kids that go off and major in music but that’s not why we do what we do,” Styers said. “To me, music is a supplementary thing that they can have for the rest of their life.”
He continued by encouraging the public to come out to see the production: “Where else can you all have an unlimited number of students all working together to create one product? There’s not many things that can do that.”
The concert begins at 7 p.m. at the high school located at 110 Carranza Road and is free to the public.
