POWER OF MEDIA
MUSIC TO MY EARS
by Ben Gross
The band program has been very successful and very talented in the past few years. Unfortunately, many times the school board has come to a decision to cut funds to the music program, I believe the music program is an important part of the school’s reputation, and by having the school board cut funds to the music program, it would lessen the school’s reputation.
I wanted to especially highlight the excellence of the band program by interviewing two Monument graduates who are off continuing to pursue their musical aspirations at Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
The first person I interviewed was 2019 Monument graduate and saxophonist Jack Bertelli. Bertelli is 17 years old and has already come out with one album titled “No prior experience” with another one on the way July 4th 2019 called “In case of emergency.” I asked Bertelli four questions regarding his time at monument and in band. The first question I asked him was, “What did you enjoy most about the music program at Monument?” He responded, “it was really great having a lot of other great musicians to play and work with. There’s always people who will help you and support you, and there’s always people you can help and support.”
The next question I asked him was more of a complicated question to answer. “What was the biggest challenge you faced as a musician at Monument?”
“my biggest challenge would be not making the all state jazz band. A lot of Monument kids (including myself) made the Western Mass districts jazz band, and I practiced with those guys a lot but didn’t make the all state band (and some of them did). It was hard to watch my friends succeed while I failed, but in the end, I think it only made me stronger.”
I then asked what Jack would miss the most about band at Monument, and he said, “what I’ll miss the most is the great teachers I had, and the great friends I made there; just the awesome people, really.”
My last question to Jack was “What is your musical goal for the future at Berklee and/or beyond Berklee?”
Bertelli aspires to become a jazz composer, and hopefully write music to be played, recorded, and performed by him and fellow musicians. Writing/composing music is very hard (trust me I’ve tried), and I applaud Bertelli on his work so far and wish him the best of luck for the future.
It was great to talk with Jack and get a better understanding of what the band experience is like at the high school. I learned a lot about the environment of the band room up there.
As well as interviewing Jack Bertelli, I interviewed Richard Stanmeyer III. I asked him the same series of questions I asked Bertelli, and much to my joy, I got different answers, which was exactly what I was looking for! Richard Stanmeyer is a graduate of Monument and is attending Berklee School of Music. The first question I asked was “What did you like/love/enjoy the most about the music program at Monument?” “The teachers are inspirational and have mentored some talented alumni/students.” He went on saying “this created, at least for me, a learning environment that pushes for success while maintaining musical integrity.”
I also asked him “What was the biggest challenge you encountered as a musician at Monument?” His response was so relatable, even for me as a drummer, not as a horn player. “being insecure about soloing in jazz band.”
Stanmeyer continued to talk about improving his improvisational skills through high school stating “I slowly grew out of that by the time I graduated high school.”
I then asked him what he misses the most about Monument music, and similar to Jack, he said, the people. He said “most of my best friends were at one point in concert/jazz band, and if it not for them I wouldn’t have taken music as seriously.” He listed a few individuals one being Jack Bertelli, and said “Without them I wouldn’t be the musician I am today.”
I concluded with “What is your aim as a musician for the future during and after Berklee?”
Stanmeyer had a lot to say about his musical future. “Through my studies at Berklee, I plan to gain a deep understanding of the music industry with a concentration in marketing.” Marketing has implications for branding as a solo artist/sideman, which, as Stanmeyer says, is his ultimate aspiration. As well as a Music Business Marketing major, he is dual majoring in Trumpet Performance so he can be the best jazz/classical/commercial musician as he can be. “After finishing my studies at Berklee, I plan to relocate to Austin, Texas for session/freelance work and hopefully tour with bands and release my own projects.”
While interviewing Bertelli, I processed his answers and reflected on how I had similar experiences, and how I related to them. I really agree with what he said about having great people to work with. Even though I am currently playing in the middle school band, I have had similar experiences to him.
Bertelli didn’t make it to all state, when all of his friends did. When I tried out for Western Mass districts jazz band as a sixth grader (being the youngest drummer) and I wasn’t accepted, and my friends were. While I was disappointed that I wasn’t on stage with them, I saw it as an opportunity for me to work toward.
Bertelli said he would miss the amazing people from the music program, and he also loves the people involved in the music program at the middle school and the high school. I feel like in order to have as great a music program as they do at Monument, you need great people, and they have them. It’s one thing that makes it so great. When I leave, I will miss them.
I also reflected on Stanmeyer’s answers. In my opinion, having a teacher who really pushes/ed for success was good for me. It also helps that expectations are high but not excessively high. I believe that having teachers that push you because they know how good you can is great.
Improvisation is different than everything else. Whenever the topic of improvisational soloing comes up, and I say something along the lines of “oh yeah. It’s kinda hard for me” everyone looks at me like I’m crazy. Occasionally I’ll get comments like “what do you mean?! You just have to hit things!” I say “there’s also the fact that I have to keep the time, and also make it sound remotely good.” It isn’t all about hitting things! I have a long way to go before I grow out of that.
As well as Bertelli, Stanmeyer thought that he would miss the great people. As I said before, having great people around you is so helpful as a musician and even not as a musician.
I think it’s great to have a general idea of what you plan to do in the future, so props to Richard Stanmeyer for knowing what he wants to do with great detail, and good luck.
First off, I would like to give a huge thank you to Jack Bertelli and Richard Stanmeyer III. It was great talking to them, and I was happy to learn as much as I could about the music program at Monument specifically the band program. I hope you learned a lot about the music program at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington. I know I sure did.