Tuesday evening the Plymouth Community School Board received an update from the PHS Music Department.
Jodi Kallenberg from the PHS Orchestra said, “It’s very hard to talk about the orchestra at the high school or anywhere in Plymouth without talking about growth.” She said she came to PHS in 2012 as a part-time teacher for 5 students. Now there are 58 students in the program and they have expanded to two classes with a new Advances Orchestra class this year.
This time of year the orchestra is preparing for the ISSMA Solo and Ensemble contest. Kallenberg said last year there were 92 entries at the competition with 43 gold metals, 34 silvers and 5 bronze. There were 7 Group 1 solos that went to state and 4 different ensembles. This year there are 93 entries with 19 Group 1 solos entered and 7 ensembles.
Kallenberg said not only is there growth in the school orchestra program but interest has prompted growth in the community. The Suzuki School of Music of Granger now has a Plymouth branch because there is enough interest in the area.
Band Director Bryan Ames spoke for Ryan VanAntwwerp, the vocal music teacher because he lives in Fort Wayne and drives to Plymouth daily to teach. Ames asked about the drive he makes daily and VanAntwwerp said he loves teaching here compared to his past experiences teaching in the Fort Wayne area. He told Mr. Ames ‘the drive is worth my time.’
Mr. Ames said the band received the All Music Award for the 16th consecutive year. He also noted that the Winter Winds program is kicking off after a very good marching band season.
Mr. Ames discussed the improvements at PHS including the new storage barn which allowed him to move props from the orchestra and band rooms into the storage. He said it also provides a place for parents who are working to build props for the next marching season.
The renovations to the parking lot provided a lot less twisted ankles during marching practice and it also provide electricity to the band tower, meaning they didn’t have to stretch electric cords from the multi-purpose room.
The football stadium and artificial turf have made a surprising difference in the band program. For the past several years 10 to 12 schools have participated in the invitational marching but the first year with the new turf there were 20 bands, Ames said, “A tremendous growth in just one year.”
He said the Drum Corp International performance was well received even though it rained. The furthest corp. to attend came from the Netherlands. Ames said they will be back again the summer of 2019. The artificial turf is providing additional opportunities for the band. They are now hosting 6 events annually and this has allowed the Band Boosters to save $15,000 towards new band uniforms. Mr. Ames noted that our school has the oldest uniforms in our class, they are 13 years old.
The PHS music department will be hosting their annual Christmas Spectacular this Friday and Saturday night in the auditorium at 7 p.m. both nights. Tickets are $5 and available at the door and the event will feature the choir, orchestra and band.
