SUNY Schenectady continues 20-year Side-by-Side Concert tradition with high school musicians (w/10 photos)

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SCHENECTADY – Southwest flair is traveling northeast this weekend as high school musicians join the Capital Region Wind Ensemble for their Annual Side-by-Side Concert.

“Of all the things I do during the year — and I do quite a few — this is always my favorite event,” said Brett Wery, the ensemble’s music director. “It’s intense for the students, it’s intense for the adults.”

This Sunday, which will mark the 20th year that the concert has taken place at SUNY Schenectady, 21 students from Galway High School, Shenendehowa High School, Gloversville High School, Bethlehem High School and other local districts will play alongside local pros for the program, titled “Southwest Colors.”

The concert’s repertoire will feature works by John J. Morrissey, John Philip Sousa and Frank Duarte. One piece by H. Owen Reed, “La Fiesta Mexicana,” includes a section of traditional mariachi music. To familiarize everyone with the style, Wery sent song recordings from professional mariachi bands to each player.

“It’s important for them to hear authentic representations of that music,” Wery said, adding that the other pieces will also highlight Southwestern landscapes and Indigenous culture and voices. “It’s really gratifying putting all of these little moving parts together and seeing it come off at 3 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon.”

The students were welcomed into the ensemble after submitting an application and receiving a nomination from their school music teachers, many of whom play in the ensemble themselves.

Photos from our Stan Hudy (10)

“Typically it’s only students that are really working super hard and want to do more music outside of school that choose to do this,” said John Fatuzzo, a trumpet player in the CRWE and music teacher at Guilderland High School. Five of his students will be playing in the Side-By-Side concert this year. “It requires a very specific type of student, one that knows that this is going to push their limits a bit.”

As a professional ensemble, the CRWE is a step up from the typical high school-level wind band, exposing the students to advanced musical literature, expertise and a much more disciplined practice schedule.

“I publish a rehearsal schedule — I’m looking at one now — and it says today, at 6:54, we are going to start rehearsing Duarte, not 6:55!” Wery said over a phone call on the morning of the group’s second rehearsal.

Students also have to put in significant time and work outside of the rehearsal room. According to Wery, the music is sent out to players a month before the first rehearsal, but the students and ensemble have only three rehearsals to perfect the program’s repertoire altogether. In order to be in top shape for each rehearsal and the performance, the students are expected to practice the music by themselves at home.

“Usually in schools, we as educators help our students learn through the process of weeks and months of work but in this case, they were supposed to have learned the music prior,” said the ensemble’s principal clarinetist, Julie Taylor. “So not only is it helping them develop their own musical talents working side-by-side, but it’s also helping them with their practice skills, having to work on this on their own and with their teachers beforehand.”

Overall, the experience allows students a glimpse into the world and life of a professional musician — an opportunity that is formative yet often difficult to find.

“[They’ve] got somebody in the family telling them what it is to run a grocery store but they don’t have anybody to tell them what it is to be a professional musician, and this is a taste of that,” Wery said. “There have been dozens and dozens of them over the years that have ended up as students at SCCC and have gone on to be professional musicians.”

As the students soak up the knowledge and experience of their mentors, the CRWE’s professional musicians also find themselves influenced by the younger players.

“Anytime there is interaction between students and adults, it’s a good thing,” said George Smith, a long-time baritone saxophone player in the group. “I think it’s a reminder of where we’ve been in the past — we were all students at one time.”

Sunday’s program will also include a classical guitar solo piece that will be played by Paul Quigley, a School of Music faculty member at SUNY Schenectady, and a downsized version of the full ensemble. According to Quigley, it is a rarity for the classical guitar, a naturally quieter instrument, to have a solo among the loud winds, noting that just “one of those instruments could basically blow [him] out of the water.”

“For me, it’s quite a thrill,” said Quigley before adding that he is also a little nervous. “It is a big deal anytime the guitar does have the opportunity to say, ‘hey, we’re part of this world as well, we’re part of a lot of different worlds’ . . . We can play Bach, we can play classical music, we can play blues, we can play speed heavy metal.”

Due to this exceptionality, Quigley guesses that it may be the first time that some of the students will be hearing a classical guitar piece.

“It could be something they have not witnessed before,” he said. “I hope it’ll be somewhat inspiring.”

The Capital Region Wind Ensemble Annual Side-By-Side Concert will take place at SUNY Schenectady’s Carl B. Taylor Auditorium in the Begley Building on Sunday, March 26, at 3 p.m. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door at $10 for adults, $8 for students, and $5 for children under 10 years old. Tickets are free for SUNY Schenectady students with ID.

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