GEORGETOWN, Del. - Students from throughout Sussex County gathered Thursday night for the Sussex County Honors Band concert. The concert was held at Sussex Central High School to a packed auditorium.
Middle and high school musicians auditioned in January for the opportunity to be admitted to the group, which holds auditions each winter. Then, accepted students spent Wednesday and Thursday in all-day rehearsals to prepare a performance full of challenging and exciting pieces in a short amount of time.
"To me, music education isn't even about the music. It's about the people, memories and experiences," said Amber Cox, a Cape Henlopen High School student who addressed the audience between pieces. "I've been able to meet incredible people, musicians and teachers and without them, I don't even know where I would be today."
Beacon Middle School students. From back left: Mark Lally, Jude Peacock, Cameron Grazze, Kellan Leposki, Tyler Steel, Hannalynn Weigmann, Reese Marrin, Logan Wilkerson, Zaydin Hutchinson. Front, from left: Dominick Alessi, Sam Kardos, Ava Hoang, Hunter Deal, Lucas Brianceau, Ryan Day, Isabella Murphy.
The two bands, one comprised of primarily middle school musicians and the other mostly high school, were led by guest conductors. The junior band was led by Dr. Lori Schwartz Reichl, a former public school music educator in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Reichl now teaches graduate courses at VanderCook College of Music and the University of the Arts in Pennsylvania. Christopher Cicconi, director of bands and orchestras and associate professor of music education at Towson University, conducted the senior band. Cicconi teaches courses in conducting, instrumental methods courses and serves as an advisor for student teachers.
"If you see a school administrator, thank them for what they're doing to keep music education alive and thriving and ask them what they need to keep it going," Reichl encouraged the audience.
Many school band programs around the county will have at least one more concert later this spring at their individual schools.
Sadie Wakefield, an eighth grader at Mariner Middle School, plays the French horn during a senior band piece.