The goal of almost every high school athlete is to be chosen to play at the next competitive level in college. The same is true for many high school band and orchestra students.
“About a third of my seniors go on to continue playing in college and community groups,” said Turlock High band director Sarah Carpenter.
Among those students is University of California, Berkeley freshman Alisha Chakravarty.
Although Chakravarty is studying integrated biology at Cal, she said the quality of the school’s band was a major factor when she chose a university to continue her education.
“I got to play with the Cal band during Cal Day, and it was only for a short period of time, but I loved their energy and I loved the way that they sounded…I just felt like I fit right in when I was playing with them,” she said.
Chakravarty, like many students in Turlock, started band in fifth grade. She started with the trumpet but then switched to the French horn in middle school. She said one of the biggest challenges going from Turlock High to Cal was learning how to perform field shows with the marching band during halftime at football games.
“When we did competitions (at Turlock High), we would only do parade marching which is like marching in a straight line and playing our piece. But for football games at Cal, we do full field shows where the band is making formations on the field. And I think that's definitely the biggest change because I've had to learn a lot about what field shows entail. I've had to memorize where my spot is, how long I have to get to my spot and how many steps I have to take, and it's been a lot of hard work but I think that I'm getting more used to it now as the season has gone on,” said Chakravarty.
Going from a marching only band to one that performs field shows was also a challenge for Turlock High alumna and current San Jose State Spartan Marching Band member Lillian Escobar.
“I was someone who may have marched one or two parades during their high school career, to jumping straight into college field show marching band. I was kind of hit by a truck, and I got very overwhelmed in the first few weeks. I even talked to my ensemble director. I was straight up having a hard time and panicking and he basically said ‘just like, chill, it's supposed to be fun. It's not that deep, like relax.’ … And so I came to terms with it and I accepted it and then that year, I got the most improved ensemble member award. And then the next year, my sophomore year, I was even the section leader for the trombone section in the marching band and I am now as again as well,” she said.
Escobar, who is not only in the Spartan Marching Band, but also the university’s Premier Ensemble and the Jazz Orchestra, is a music education major and hopes to one day become a high school band director and then get a doctorate degree and teach at the university level.
Braydon Johnson is another THS band alumnus who is now studying music education at California State University, Bakersfield and a member of the CSUB band. Like Escobar, Johnson hopes to one day become a high school band director.
“Mrs. Carpenter has been an inspiration and I realized, you know what, maybe music isn't just a class maybe it's actually a passion and maybe I actually can go somewhere with music,” he said.
“Stick with it” is the advice that Chakravarty would give to younger band students, which is similar to what Carpenter recommends.
“My advice for younger students is to keep playing for as long as possible. Find a group to play in - most towns have a community band within driving distance. I've known people who play well into their eighties. Music is something that can be a life-long endeavor,” she said.
For those high school students thinking about playing at the college level, Escobar has this advice to give:
“Number one thing that I wish someone would would have said as soon as I walked into the door of a music building on my campus, was just because there are other excellent musicians and other great players, doesn't mean you aren't excellent and great as well,” said Escobar.
