Luke Fritz has been playing the trumpet since his elementary school days in the Franklin Regional School District.<\/p>\n
He continued engaging with music while attending college at the University of Pittsburgh, even though he was majoring in geology.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think music and bands have always fostered a camaraderie that you might not always get in other aspects of your life,\u201d said Fritz, 31, of New Kensington.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why Fritz decided to sign up for the new University of Pittsburgh Summer Concert Band.<\/p>\n
The university\u2019s assistant director of bands, Michael Buckstein, floated the idea this past school year.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur bands director, Brad Townsend, has been thinking about something like this for a few years now,\u201d Buckstein said. \u201cI\u2019ve gone back to Indiana University of Pennsylvania each year because one of my old professors organizes something similar. I\u2019ve really enjoyed it, so I spoke with him and he gave me his blessing to steal the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Townsend was on board immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in doing something to engage our alums and give them a chance to play with students,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Fritz and Buckstein played together in the trumpet section of Pitt\u2019s marching band.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe reached out to me and some other alumni about the summer concert band and I think it\u2019s a really cool opportunity,\u201d Fritz said. \u201cSometimes with music, it\u2019s a little more difficult to stay with it once you\u2019re out of high school or college, so this is a good way to keep up with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abby Diamond, 21, of Cranbury, N.J., is headed into her senior year at Pitt. Because she already planned to remain in Pittsburgh this summer, she jumped at the opportunity to join the summer concert band.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m also not a music major, but I\u2019ve been in the marching band the past three years,\u201d she said. \u201cMusic has made me feel so connected to the Pitt community, especially since we\u2019re playing at athletic events. I\u2019m definitely going to continue playing music after college, even if it\u2019s in a community band.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is precisely the notion Townsend said he and Buckstein are hoping to foster with the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a band director, one of the things you want most is to give your students the tools and the desire to continue playing after their education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members of the summer concert band will get together for two rehearsals in advance of the July 25 concert, which will be free and open to the public at Bellefield Hall on Pitt\u2019s main campus in Pittsburgh\u2019s Oakland neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Moonyoung Hwang, 19, of Fox Chapel, is a Pitt student majoring in biochemistry and has been playing the flute for almost a dozen years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith my major, it\u2019s hard to find time to do something like marching band,\u201d Hwang said. \u201cBut music is just such a big part of my life, I wanted to take any opportunity I could to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ethan Chirdon, 25, of Shaler reached out immediately when he saw the callout for people to join the band.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was part of the symphonic band at Pitt, and I knew it was something I wanted to do,\u201d said Chirdon, a percussionist who particularly enjoys getting behind his section\u2019s massive timpani drums.<\/p>\n
The concert will be centered mainly around America\u2019s 250th anniversary, with multiple pieces by marching band icon John Philip Sousa, but also medleys of songs by legendary film score composer John Williams and the Beach Boys.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael is really good at curating songs for a performance like this,\u201d Fritz said. \u201cI really like the summer-y vibe he\u2019s got going, with patriotic songs for the 250th anniversary, but there\u2019s also the Beach Boys piece. The Beach Boys was the first CD I remember listening to when I was a kid. And I really love John Williams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chirdon said he\u2019s looking forward to a medley of cowboy movie songs called \u201cBest of the West\u201d and also the Frank Ticheli arrangement of the American folk song \u201cShenandoah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s got some nice melodic percussion in it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe did a couple of Ticheli pieces when I was in the Pitt symphonic band, and all of them had a lot of neat doubling between the tubas and timpanis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fritz said he\u2019s excited to be a part of the new initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was section leader in the marching band my senior year, so I\u2019ve always had a place in my heart for Pitt band, and I think it\u2019s really cool that Michael is trying to expand it,\u201d Fritz said. \u201cLuckily playing an instrument is kind of like riding a bike, and you can pick it up quickly again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hwang said the summer concert band is a great way to build community.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery ensemble I\u2019ve ever played in, I walk away with a few new friends and new people I\u2019ve met,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s bigger than career or other interests you might have. We\u2019re all there to bring people joy through music and I think it\u2019s really beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n