Hundreds of students from across the Byram Hills Central School District came together at Byram Hills High School for the Districtwide Music Festivals, three days of music-making, community and inspiration.
Fifth graders from Wampus Elementary School and eighth graders from H.C. Crittenden Middle School traveled to the high school to work with students and faculty in three half-day sessions, one each for students in band, orchestra and chorus. The students rehearsed with each other and after just several hours of working together, they performed a high-caliber final piece.
“The energy was palpable at the festivals,” said Marc Beja, the Director of Fine Arts. “The students were having a really great time with one other, and the younger students got a kick out of playing alongside the high school students. The culminating performances were fantastic.”
The festivals gave younger students a taste of what their musical career could look like at the high school and strengthened the Byram Hills music community by allowing students in different grades to learn and play together.
“To have high school students sitting among fifth and eighth graders and being able to help them out and talk with them is truly inspirational,” Mr. Beja said. “The younger students get so excited to learn from the older kids.”
There is also a benefit to playing together in large numbers. There were more than 100 students at each festival, and it was helpful for the younger students to hear a more mature sound and exciting to be part of a large, districtwide ensemble.
“The festivals were a great way for our music students to show off what they’ve learned, to blend their talents with students from the other schools and for the younger students to see what’s coming up for them and for the high school students to reflect on their journey,” Mr. Beja said.
The first festival, for the orchestra students, was on Feb. 14. The high school students held a question and answer session with the younger students. Together, they all performed “Viking,” by Soon Hee Newbold, a composer who visited Byram Hills in 2021.
The chorus festival on Feb. 15 included the eighth graders and high school students singing fun pop songs as they got to know one another. The final performance was “Oye” by Jim Papoulis.
At the band festival on Feb. 16, students in each instrument group played a piece together, and all of the band students performed “Alpha Squadron,” “Duel of the Fates,” and “Let’s Go Band.”
Decked out in their Byram Hills Music T-shirts, the students enjoyed the festivals, which included a community pizza lunch.
An eighth grader, Sean, said his favorite part of the band festival was “working with fifth graders and high schoolers to get different perspectives on how different things get played.”
Charlie, a fifth grader, remembered sitting next to students from the middle school and high school at the band festival. “They were teaching me and playing with everybody in a big group and it was really fun,” he said.
Ninth grader Darby noted the fifth graders’ joy and excitement at the chorus festival and the great amount of effort they put into their performance. “That group was very into it and really trying their best and they looked like they were having so much fun and they sounded fantastic,” she said. “It just made me really happy and I hope all ensembles can be like that.”
Victoria, a fifth grader who attended the orchestra festival, said: “I thought it was really cool seeing how the grades that are higher than me play and how much better they are and how much more they learned. I thought the high schoolers played really gentle and really cool. I’m just imagining myself if I get to that stage and then I’m playing like that. I think that would be really cool.”
The Fine Arts Department is grateful to the PTSA for co-sponsoring the festivals.
