No pipe dream: Pitman High Wind Ensemble to play at Carnegie Hall

The Pitman High School Wind Ensemble will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, one of 18 bands nationwide selected for the National Band and Orchestra Festival March 25-26.

“I’m learning a lot and getting better at my instrument, but just the actual experience of playing at Carnegie Hall,” bassoon player Anna Eichert said, her wide grin finishing the thought.

Festival judges will be marking their cards, but music teacher Ruben Modesto’s goal isn’t to add to the shelf laden with trophies in the band practice room. While it’s true that scores earned at competitions made the band eligible to audition for the prestigious performance, now the points are, well, not the point.

“I’m not interested in a rating, a ranking, a place. I am interested in what these adjudicators have to say,” Modesto said. “I expect them to hear things I just don’t.”

The trumpet-playing, Harley-riding music teacher has not selected the three pieces his 47-member horn section will perform in its half-hour on stage. “I want to play stuff that will emphasize the strengths of the group,” he said.

Strengths such as strong technique in the high woodwinds, good sound from the trombones and a low brass section “that’s good at making a deep, warm sound,” he explained.

The wind ensemble will have its own cheering section in the crowd, with members of Pitman’s three bands joining the trip. In all, 106 students and 30 chaperones will journey to New York. The itinerary includes seeing the Empire State Building, Ellis Island, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Radio City Music Hall and the Broadway show “Aladdin.”

Even beyond the musical challenge of preparing for and performing at Carnegie Hall, the trip is meant to be an eye-opening experience.

“In high school you’ve got to be in a classroom, but let’s be honest: A lot of learning happens outside the classroom, too,” Modesto said, sitting at his desk below a photo of his band that played at Washington, D.C., July Fourth celebrations in 2012.

“It was something they still talked about four years later – the ups, the downs, the bads, the goods, surviving the heat,” he said. “I don’t think they remember the score (they got). It’s the experience.”

“I think it’s very exciting, just the fact we got to do this,” said bass trombone player Brandon Duncan, a senior.

“It’ll be a good experience, but really, I just like playing,” said bassoonist John Fish, a sophomore.

Part of the New York experience for the Pitman students is fundraising the roughly $2,000 per person needed to pay for the trip. So far the band has sold coupons to Jamba Juice; held a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s; and done a drive-thru dinner at Las Casuelas Mexican Restaurant, flier promotions at fast-food restaurants, and sales of coffees, pies and fudge.

But the work is all part of band team-building.

“It’s a great community,” said sophomore Brendan Tallent. Practicing his baritone sax has helped improve his work habits across all his classes, he said, but what he most enjoys is being a part of the group.

That is music to Mr. Modesto’s ears.

“You can look at these kids. Maybe four out of the 47 will be music majors. But 85 percent will go to a four-year school,” he said. That’s his average over the 10 years he’s been teaching at the Turlock campus.

“It’s my job to motivate these guys, to make them understand hard work is what’s going to make you succeed,” said Modesto, adding that the team dynamic helps make that happen for teens.

“Band is similar to athletics, but different in that everybody starts. There is no bench,” he said.

This story was originally published December 13, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "No pipe dream: Pitman High Wind Ensemble to play at Carnegie Hall."