The Many Faces of Weston High School Band

                                                                                      

Sarah Kerch

AP Western Civ

Mr. Sidoli

Period 2

May 6, 2005

 

 

 

Since 1958 Weston Schools has given a great gift to its students – the opportunity to learn how to read music and play an instrument.  Their gift was shared with the citizens of Weston from concerts to graduation to marching in the Memorial Day Parade.  As the town grew the need for a high school did as well which meant there were more kids and more kids who were interested in music.  With the appearance of the Weston High School band in 1968 a definition all to its own was created: an atmosphere full of fun, entertainment, and success which has been maintained by the students and three conductors over the years. 

            Before Weston High came to be, the younger kids of Weston were taught by Mr. Robert Estes in 1958, proving his love of music and sharing his musical experience within Weston.  One of his students, Mr. David Trigaux became All State at the clarinet and was taught by Mr. Estes while he was in sixth grade attending Weston.  Mr. Estes was the first to expose them to “symphonic wind music, Sousa marches, classical pieces and solo opportunities at a young age.”1  This helped them once they reached High School because they were able to challenge themselves with music of higher levels of difficulty and they sometimes got to play with Staples Band.  After he finished up to the ninth grade in Weston, he moved on to Staples under the guidance of Mr. Estes.  Since they had many quality students they were “able to do quality music.”[1] 

At the same time he taught at Staples High in Westport where the older Weston students were bused to.  One part of Mr. Estes success is he led many students to the All State band, one being Mr. Trigaux.  Once the Weston High School was finished, Mr. Estes came to Weston to teach music.  Since there was so much “earlier success at the Elementary School and Middle School levels”[2] there were no problems with the administration for the start of a High School band.  The administration felt there was a lot of potential and as Mr. Estes said there was “an exciting audile element as well as a visual and academic perspective.” 2  To start, there was only one band and “until all three grades [were] in the new school” “the size of the band was quite limited.” 2  This was because there were only two grades and once the other two grades were added, the number of people who joined band grew instantly.

The 1972 – 1973 Weston High School Yearbook, Heliotrope, gave an accurate students perspective about the band.  There was “creative programming” which let the students teach each other when there was no teacher one day.  The pictures are very similar to what they would look like today; the girls playing the flutes and the boys playing the trumpets.  “Over one half of the student body”[3] was involved in the band which proves how well respected it was and a sense of true interest in the music program.  

A reason for the “quite strong”2 support from the town was the concerts performed that year and all years preceding.  The concerts brought the town together in a fun and entertaining way.  During Christmas there is the traditional “Christmas Candlelight Concert” and each and every year there is the “Pops Concert” to end the school year; and the famous Memorial Day Parade where every member in the band gets to wear gold suspenders with bow ties and marches.  Then there was the pep band which combined school spirit and sports for entertaining the parents and cheering for the players.  Every little thing Mr. Estes did, added to the success, fun and entertainment for the band, students and townspeople.

After Mr. Estes left, a new band conductor was needed, and he happened to be a student of Mr. Estes, Mr. Gary Sousa.  Mr. Sousa was in the first band and taught at Weston starting in 1978.  He was only there for about two school years because he decided to go back to school to earn a Masters Degree.  There were no stereotypes (band geeks) and many of the star football players were in the band as well as choir; Mr. Sousa was captain of the football team.  Mr. Sousa thought of Mr. Estes as the “Music Man”; he was responsible for helping in the planning for the original band and choir area and getting it all started.  The band room was built for the size of the student body then, and there was poor planning for the large number of students who would be entering in the years to come.  Even while Mr. Sousa was here, “the room was too small.”[4]  He wanted to keep up with bands of the surrounding towns but for a small school it was hard, but they were able to do it.  Everyone was welcome according to Mr. Sousa.

The current band teacher, Mr. Sal LaRusso was hired as a temporary for Mr. Sousa in 1980 for one year, but ended up staying much longer than expected – 25 years to be precise.  At first there was tension because Mr. Sousa allowed the kids to call him Gary but Mr. LaRusso, only being 24 needed to draw a line and he did not let the kids call him Sal which made them a little upset.  With Mr. LaRusso’s awesome sense of humor, all that soon melted away. 

For the first three to six years he taught, the band members stayed between seventy-five and eighty but in 1985 to 1986 there were 64 kids out of the 300 in the school at the time.  He also had to deal with the thirteen thousand dollar debt the band had acquired from marching band uniforms that took seven years to pay off. 

Tradition in the band has been very important and kept throughout the years, but during the “Pops Concert” Mr. LaRusso decided to make sandwiches with the kids for family and friends because the concert was outdoors and the picnic type.  Unfortunately do to continuous rain, that tradition was cancelled, but to this day the “Pops Concert” plays on.  In 2000-2001 he added “Spectrum” to shorten a previous concert with a running time of almost three hours while “Spectrum” takes forty-five minutes.

Mr. LaRusso has been at Weston the longest out of the other two conductors and has seen the expansion of the student body and number of bands.  1997-1998 was the first time the band split; there was a ninth grade band, Concert Band and a 10-11-12 band, Symphonic Band.  Then in 2001-2002 an honors band, the Wind Ensemble was created and this year, 2004-2005 the Jazz Cabaret group was added.  In order for students to explore other types of music genre, they have many jazz bands and a Symphonic Orchestra to choose from which also makes listening to the concerts very enjoyable.       

   One of the most meaningful additions Mr. LaRusso made was the Doug McCabe Fine Arts Scholarship for a students who posses strong connections to music.  This was a way for Mr. LaRusso to honor Doug and reward one of his students.  Another was bringing musical guests to the school.  “If you show them money, they will come”[5] and indeed he brought in many guests one including Dizzy Gillespie.

Out of all of Mr. LaRusso’s years here there has only been one bad incident and that was between the football team and the band following a performance of “Damn Yankees”.  The football team threw eggs at the band and in retaliation the band went into the locker room and wrecked all the lockers.  Mr. LaRusso took a dozen of each side down to the Student Union to “[repair] differences.”[6]  After that many of them became good friends adding another step to the success of the band.   

  “The Music Department hopes to maintain the spirit of innovation and creativity it has upheld in the past, and plans to challenge students with the new ideas and new music in the years to come.”[7]  This was stated in the 1972-1973 Yearbook.  From the three conductors throughout the years this statement has proven true with more to come in the future.  Each conductor adds his own flare for music and close connection with the students because it is something student and teacher enjoy together.  More students and more talent have been added each year along with a higher level of fun, entertainment and success.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

Estes, Robert. “Re: 1958.” E-mail to Sarah Kerch. 24 Nov 2004.

 

Estes, Robert. “Re: Student from Weston High.” E-mail to Sarah Kerch. 1 Dec       2004.

 

LaRusso, Sal. Personal Interview. March4, 2005

 

Sousa, Gary. “Re: Student from Weston High.” E-mail to Sarah Kerch. 3 Dec         2004.

 

Trigaux, David. “Re: Student from Weston High School.” E-mail to Sarah Kerch.    3 March 2005.

 

Weston High School Heliotrope. Jostens,1972.