For nearly an hour each Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, forty-five band students rehearse in their classroom. They warm up, look at the quotes and posters that adorn the walls, chat with each other about classes and homework, and run through a few pieces, possibly in preparation for a performance.

This might seem like the way any high school band class is structured, but there are many of aspects of the band that are completely unknown to the Parker community.

Freshmen take Concert Band, which meets three times a week, although they are required to attend only twice a week and, if they choose to continue their instrumental education, will move on to a second, third, fourth year of Concert Band. Plus, they can concurrently enroll in Jazz band, which meets once a week.

I’m confident that in the future I would value the opportunity to play music in a faster-paced setting with classmates who are also in Concert Band but are similarly looking for a more challenging experience. I enjoy Concert Band don’t get me wrong, but I’m sure some of the sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have to play with me twice a week would appreciate an additional option like the Choir program has: a sequence starting with New Chorale for freshman, then Special Chorus, with concurrent enrollment possible in Grape Jam.

The auditorium plays host to several music concerts throughout the year, both as Morning X’s and nighttime shows. Probably the most well known one is Vespers, featuring Middle and Upper School chorus groups, their voices ringing in our ears all the way through Christmas break. But those voices are not accompanied by the melody of a flute or the bassline of a trombone. Instead, you could probably find me at home completing a SmartMusic assignment. There’s typically only one band slot in Vespers, compared to about six for choir, and this year it was reserved for a combined seventh/eighth grade ensemble. Sometimes there is no Parker band representation at Vespers, and a professional band is hired instead. If Concert Band performed at Vespers, not only would it be great practice for us, it would make our voices, or rather our instruments, heard.

The band program is relatively new compared to the choir program. It was formed at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year when teachers Kingsley Tang and Alec Synakowski joined the Parker faculty.

Since he joined the Music Department, Synakowski has been working on developing an “Advanced Wind Ensemble” class, which would require an audition and feature a more challenging repertoire of music. Intended to be ready next year, it would be the Grape Jam of the band program. Both the Upper School band and choir programs are featured in the Spring Music Showcase and the US Commencement ceremony in the spring.

As a fourth-year band student, who has played the flute since sixth grade, I’ve watched the band program grow more prominent and robust each year, and I fully support its continued development, both during my remaining years at Parker and after I graduate. Hopefully before then I’ll get the chance to see a band whose visuals are as recognizable to the Parker community as the purple attire of Grape Jam.