Power & Class

Sci-Tech band makes big sound

November 12, 2007

The High School of Science and Technology’s Concert Band could hardly contain its enthusiasm while tuning up one recent Tuesday morning, and some members launched into a popular radio hit.The band waited eagerly for a cue from Director Gary R. Bernice, and then threw itself into an instrumental adaptation of “Stronger,” by rap artist Kanye West. The musicians’ eyes almost never left their bending, leaping, 24-year-old conductor.

Bernice, a University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate who played trumpet with the Minuteman Marching Band, was hired at Sci-Tech in early 2007, and quickly revived the high school’s struggling band programs, students and faculty said.

“In January, Mr. Bernice came, and he turned everything around,” said Andrew C. Key, 17, a senior who plays tuba and is band council vice-president. Key said that in the past, “we would sit here and play cards.”

“I know he works every day until six or seven o’clock at night,” said Julie A. Jaron, the district’s visual and performing arts director. “The kids are just so motivated by him and his enthusiasm.” Jaron said Bernice is “very focused and directed in his teaching.”

Bass clarinet player Jeremy J. Jones, 18, a senior, said the Concert Band “came back together,” because of Bernice’s willingness to listen. “He gave us more freedom … he didn’t just yell at us, and give us orders,” Jones said.

Bernice, who is from New Jersey, planned to major in business at UMass, but while an undergraduate, realized he wanted to teach music, and in a city setting. He wrote a thesis about music curricula for the urban classroom. Bernice worked with UMass Visiting Assistant Professor Benedict J. Smar, and Springfield’s former arts director, Vera S. Baker.

Bernice student-taught in Dorchester and Roxbury in fall 2006, before Baker suggested he apply for the Sci-Tech job. Arriving in Springfield mid-year, after repeated turnover in the postion, Bernice initially despaired of bringing back the bands.

But, once Bernice’s commitment to the students was made clear, “Everybody started changing their attitude,” recalled Jelanie O. Jones, 15, a sophomore who plays alto saxophone. Within four months, the bands produced a concert called ArtsAlive07, and soon afterward, performed succesfully at graduation.

Sci-Tech’s Concert Band, which had 22 students last year, now has 41, while “Band 1,” for less experienced musicians, has 32 members. Both practice five days a week.

“They’re graded every single day,” Bernice said, adding that attendance, participation, and conduct are key.

Bernice said the teenagers caused the turnaround themselves, by taking ownership of the music.

“They took control of it … and I’m ultimately just really proud of them,” he said.

Senior Michael A. Hernandez, 17, who plays trumpet, appreciates Bernice’s openness to popular music.

“If we hear something on the radio that we enjoy, we tell him,” said Hernandez, who played “Stronger,” for Bernice on an MP3 player, leading to Bernice adapting it for band use.

Bernice is also agreeable to giving standard tunes a more urban flair.

“We take some of the music and put our own flavor to it,” Hernandez said, while Jose A. Ramirez, 17, a junior who plays trombone, recalled Bernice re-mixing Robert W. Smith’s “Tempest.”

“We changed some of the rhythms … that were just dull and plain, we made it more bouncy,” Ramirez said.

Now, some band members report their overall school attendance and academic grades are improving, because they have band practice to look forward to.

“This year, I have B’s and A’s, said Carlene L. Henriquez, 15, a sophomore who plays clarinet, adding that she is more excited about school “because I have so much fun in this (band) class … and with the new friends I made.”

Clarinetist Marcus A. Ramsey, 17, a senior, said he is applying the focusing skills he learned in band to academic classes.

Bernice said almost all the instruments are owned by the district, which pays for repairs as needed, and he is granted $1,600 a year for instrument replacements and sheet music. Repairs are under way to all the instruments that were broken.

Bernice said he didn’t want to touch the instrument replacement funds, which would cover just a few items, so he and wife Elise Moreau Bernice, spent about $1,000 of their own money on band needs this fall, including mouthpieces and method books. They hope to recoup the sum eventually through band fundraising.

Kelly L. Jones, 17, a senior who plays alto saxophone, said Bernice has made band practice a positive experience. “It is good for us to come together and express ourselves through music,” Jones said.

The bands will perform at the WinterFest, on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. at Van Sickle Middle School, 1170 Carew St. The concert is free, but Bernice hopes to raise funds to take the Concert Band to New York City in April.

To donate, make checks payable to “Sci-Tech Band,” and mail to: High School of Science and Technology, 1250 State St., Springfield, MA., 01109, Attention: Gary R. Bernice.

By MARLA A. GOLDBERG
Springfield Republican