The 66th Annual Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band Festival was held March 15 through 17 at Mansfield University. Six Elizabethtown College students participated in the 115-member honors band: seniors Nathan Caudill, Chad Feakins, Dan Tschop, Brian Wilson, sophomore Jason Sandonato and first-year Christina McCall.
At the Intercollegiate Band Festival, the students spent Friday afternoon and evening rehearsing and auditioning for seats within their sections. Saturday was spent rehearsing, as well as part of Sunday, too. Sunday afternoon, the students attended a banquet where they were honored for their participation, and the performance followed. “At the festival, we had the opportunity to play challenging music with other talented musicians from roughly 20 different schools. In three days, we went from basically sight reading to performing a quality concert with some of the most challenging music I’ve had a chance to play,” Wilson said.
Dr. Rob Spence, assistant professor of music and director of instrumental studies, helped the students prepare for the festival, keeping the students updated on everything that was going on, as well as arranging practice during band times and staying easily accessible for additional practice. He also accompanied the students at the festival.
Caudill, Feakins, McCall, Sandonato, Tschop and Wilson used symphonic band time for practicing as well as a lot of additional individual practice. They also met together as a small group to get a feel for how each individual part fit into the rest of the band. A few of them had additional teachers helping them along with Spence; Caudill worked with his french horn instructor, Cheryl Staherski, and Feakins with his applied instructor, Leon Hillard.
“I think the band sounded absolutely amazing and I think it reflects really well on the colleges that participated,” Tschop said. McCall agreed, “I think that participating in this festival shows the amount of talent that Etown has in their music department. Not only does it reflect on the talent of the individuals who chose to attend Etown, but it also reflects on the talent of the staff who have instructed us and guided us to make better use of our talents and be better band members.” Etown provided the festival with talented, competitive players who were not afraid of a challenge.
The music festival was a great learning experience for the students, as well. “I think that I became a better player from this experience. It always amazes me that I can learn from a new director and a new band. They taught me patience, and above all, how to show emotion through music in a way I never thought of before,” McCall said. The other Etown participants agreed that they learned new things about themselves through the process. “I gained knowledge of repertoire, endurance, experience in pacing myself through long hours of rehearsal and a few friends,” Feakins said.