Choir And Orchestra See Increase In Student Participation With 8-period Day

Choir And Orchestra See Increase In Student Participation With 8-period Day

From the band that went to perform in London in 2012 to the 22 choir soloists that
competed in State UIL Solo and Ensemble in 2013, Rider High School musicians
have shown they know how to play and sing music. That success has led to an
increase in numbers for both choir and band programs. Choir Director Jason Mayfield says the Varsity
Acapella Choir member count has risen from 55 to 75 and Girls Choir has risen to 75 to 80 girls. Band
and Orchestra Director Loy Studer graduated 35 band members last year but gained 20 new band
members and 15 new orchestra members in this year’s program. Studer said that during his daily work
with Rider and McNiel campuses, he sees over 600 different kids daily.

However those numbers don’t stop him from pursuing his goal to “try to have a personal relationship
with the kids [and] to know everyone’s name.”“The most important thing is getting down to the
individual student, and Mrs. McDonald has allowed us to set up our classes so that we can have that
individual relationship,” Studer said. “We try to have a personal relationship with the kids, and we try to
do things [that] may not matter to them, but it matters to us. We try our best to stand at the door and
greet them as they come in and tell them goodbye when they leave. It’s just those things, so we can
know who everyone is.”

Studer said teaching over 600 kids can become very overwhelming and he still gets tripped up on
a few people’s name, although he tries to make it a point to remember everyone’s name.To combat
this, Studer and his team of directors and assistants each handle their responsibilities to make sure that
everything is up and going by the time the bell rings. “When you consider that you have kids playing
20 different instruments, that’s a big deal,” Studer said.

Just like Studer must keep things up and going, Mayfield said he feels the same way and is encouraged
by the increase of numbers this year. “With bigger numbers comes more opportunity to do more
difficult music, better music, and more music,” Mayfield said. “We’re just able to do a lot more with more
bodies. And not only that, they are more talented bodies, not just [average].”

Mayfield also said that just because they have numbers, that doesn’t make them better than anyone
else. “I wish we had a full-time second person,” Mayfield said. “For me, it’s just me by myself with a lot
of kids. But I think we make it work well.”Mayfield said he encourages all his kids to keep working hard,
because he realizes the second they sit back and enjoy something, someone else will be better than
them.

Although teachers like Studer and Mayfield, and some music students realize the population growth
represents new opportunities, some students see the negative effects of the growth.
As sophomore Lea Hor walks into her 6th Period Orchestra class, she sees her classmates sitting in
their section without an instrument to play. This year, there are so many people in Orchestra there
aren’t enough instruments yet.

A class that used to be made up of 20-30 people now has over 60 people in its seats. However this
year is different because the budget, which is used to purchase things like instruments for Orchestra,
was due to be released Sept. 5 and was not released until Sept. 25, a little over a month after school
started. As of late September, only five students in the Orchestra period lacked instruments to play,
but Studer says they work through this problem with patience and teamwork.
Hor said she feels the effect of the unreleased budget and notes that the new class is a mix between
beginning and advanced musicians, and that the class should be divided into a JV and varsity level
class, if possible. In fact, Hor and some of the other advanced musicians tried to form two class periods,
but the 8th period they tried to form failed because of sports conflicts, and the whole project dissolved.
When Adam Hendricks goes to the football field to march, he must constantly be on his guard. With
88 marching spots in their show and over 130 people to fill them, he must play and march well or
he will be replaced. Hendricks tells stories of freshmen marching in spots once belonging to seniors,
because the freshmen were marching better. However, Hendricks said he takes on “the more the merrier”
mentality and refers to the band as his big family. Hendricks also said that although the numbers
sometimes get in the way of progress, it just means more people to get the job done. Hendricks said he
believes the Rider Band program is the best around, as it was voted “2013 Texoma’s Best Band.” Junior
and Drum Major Dakota Tolleson says she is excited about this year and she thinks “it’s a good thing
people are getting involved in music because its supposed to be helpful for academics.