With 41 students in choir, 42 in band and 51 students in marching band, Milton High School’s music program has turned up the volume with an increased number of students involved in the department.
Choir Teacher Mr. Eric Bergmueller said the growth is mainly due to having more periods, which means more students have more opportunities to take classes with the period scheduling.
Meanwhile, Band Director Mr. Ryan Hewitt said that he believes that still being new to the school provides the excitement of new ideas.
“I’m really good at accepting and including everyone so that they can learn music and love it rather than be discouraged, even if they are starting from no music knowledge at all,” he explained.
Mr Bergmueller said that he thinks the music program will continue to get better as he has more time with the middle schoolers, and eventually the high school program will grow with middle schoolers moving up. He added that with 43 sixth graders involved in choir right now, the high school choir will definitely begin to grow and not only grow, but get better as well.
Mr. Hewitt said he does not believe the band program will continue to grow because of the ratio of students in the school to students in band.
“The quality of the band will get better since there are more people for more of the parts and the music will be more full sounding, but students will continue to join at a slower rate,” he said.“Taking 50 kids this year and doubling it into 100 will not likely happen like it did last year– taking 30 and turning it into almost 60.”
Mr. Bergmueller said that when the music classrooms were constructed in 2000-2001, they were meant to be bigger. There’s already a struggle for space, and though Mr. Bergmueller said they added three new risers to create more room. When everyone is standing, every spot on the riser is taken.
Meanwhile, Mr Hewitt said he plans to use the stage and hold band rehearsals there if the band outgrows its space.
The pandemic’s health policies took a toll on the music program, according to Mr. Bergmuller. The choir only had nine students when school returned to in person in the fall of 2021. Mr Bergmueller said digital choir was not good, and because of fears and other worries, many people did not participate in choir.
Meanwhile Mr Hewitt said that he wasn’t here during the pandemic, but when he was hired, there were only ten students in the marching band. Many students were still scared to participate in the music program because of still having fears of COVID-19, he added.
Mr. Bergmueller said he has grown the music program by recruiting students from his other classes. When he notices a student doing well in another of his classes, he’ll recommend them for another of his classes, adding that most join the next year.
Mr. Hewitt said he has made instruments available to students who don’t own their own instruments and can learn to play.
The period schedules have made classes more energetic, said Mr. Bergmueller. He added that he wishes for more time, but he feels the 40 minutes of class makes the classes better.
Mr Hewitt said that the period schedule benefits the band and choir because more students are able to participate year-round, and it lets the middle school choir and band meet more with rehearsals.
Working with young people inspires Mr.Bergmueller, he said. He added that he loves the idea of getting a student out of their shell to pursue music, especially when the students expand their music knowledge.
Mr. Hewitt said he is inspired by seeing the music program grow not only in the high school but in all of Milton’s schools.
Some goals Mr Bergmueller has for the music program are adding more music and creative classes.
Mr. Hewitt said his dream is to see the program grow as much as possible while he’s here. Some goals he said he has are increasing students in the music program, as well as the skill level and making a better schedule. But his goals for this year are to have a successful marching band season,choosing fun music for concerts, and having good concerts this school year. He said
Mr. Bergmueller and Mr. Hewitt both said that combining their booster organizations into MAMBO (Milton Area Music Booster Organization) has benefited the overall program by letting people in the community help the music program as well as reducing the number of meetings. MAMBO also oversees fundraising for the program.
“It would be a wonderful problem to have if the choir and band outgrew their rooms” said Mr Bergmueller.
Mr Hewitt said his plan to strengthen the music program is to focus on the middle school students to improve in the high school band.
Mr Bergmueller said that all of his classes have grown significantly in the past few years not only in people, but in skills as well.
Mr Hewitt said that middle and high school participates in marching band and the marching band helps build skill levels in both bands.
