Holiday concert is just the beginning for music program

By Doug Flanagan

At the start of every school year, Waterville School music director Will Chisholm has a list of goals he’d like his students to accomplish. Those goals include performing well at competitions, festivals and concerts, of course. Like any good teacher, Chisholm wants to see his students improve and succeed.

But in a way, those goals pale in comparison to the most important thing that the veteran music teacher wants his kids to get out of the experience of performing in a school band or choir.  To put it simply, he wants them to fall in love with music as much as he has.

“I’ve always wanted them to enjoy the experience,” Chisholm said. “The best compliment I get as a teacher is when a student says, ‘I want to go play for the Washington State University marching band after I graduate,’ or, ‘I want to sing or audition for the choir at college,’ or goes on to be a part of his or her church choir or worship team. I’d love for them to become lifelong lovers of music. Those external motivators are nice, but if that’s the primary motivation, they’re probably not going to stick with it as long.”

In that regard, Chisholm can feel especially blessed during this holiday season that he’s working with a group of students that not only seem to enjoy the experience of performing music, but enjoy the experience of being around each other.

The growing sense of affection that is building throughout the Waterville music program is one of the things that sets this particular group of students apart from any that Chisholm has worked with in his 12-year teaching career.

“The choir has chosen to work together, and that chemistry is something that I haven’t had in some time,” he said. “They’ve made that choice, and it’s inspiring. What I like about the band is that here’s a true sense of community. This group has a team-like mentality in that they can be sarcastic with each other and joke around, but their chemistry has a family feel to it.

“Both groups are getting an all-for-one, one-for-all attitude, and that’s a very good sign.”

The school’s music program displayed its cohesion — not to mention its many talents — during its annual holiday concert, held Dec. 20 at the school. The concert included performances from the elementary, fifth and sixth grade, middle school, high school and jazz bands as well as the choir.

“The music choices ranged from traditional concert pieces to other selections that were not holiday songs, but we thought it would be a lot of fun and a great opportunity to give the students a chance to perform them in front of the public for the first time,” Chisholm said.

Chisholm said the theme of the concert was changed a bit after Lauren Ludeman, a junior at the school, died on Dec. 1 after a battle with cancer. The concert was originally scheduled to be held Dec. 8, but was pushed back to accommodate the memorial service held at the school in Ludeman’s honor.

“The past two weeks, I’ve looked at doing some happier things,” Chisholm said. “I wanted to have a theme based around sleighs and bells, but sometimes those pieces can be haunting or sad, so I wanted to throw some happiness in there too, something upbeat that fits the hustle and bustle of the holidays.”

Chisholm has a keen awareness of how much a holiday concert can mean to a small community such as Waterville. He said that when he goes to the house of a student’s parents, he’ll often take notice of a picture of the student performing adorning a wall or sitting on the mantel.

“That’s part of the reason I stress out about it so much,” he said with a laugh. “I want to do it well because it’s important and it does mean something. I want to keep people wanting more and not wishing that we had done less.”

After the holiday break, the music program is slated for a busy spring semester. It’s scheduled to perform in three local festivals, and the band will continue to play during basketball games. Chisholm would like to have some exchanges with other bands and choirs, and of course, the program will continue to be present at a variety of community events and play at the Apple Blossom Festival for the eighth consecutive year.

“For some of the kids, this is the first time they’ve performed, and one of the things that I do is give them pieces that they know are above their ability, but I know are within their potential to do,” he said. “I want to expose them to great works of music, fun pieces that push them.”

One thing is for certain: As long as the music students continue to work together as a team, they’ll definitely continue to improve. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll acquire an ardor of music that they’ll be able to take with them through the rest of their lives.

That’s Chisholm’s vision for the program, and it’s a powerful one.

“I want to have a program that can feed itself,” he said. “I want alumni to come back and help out. I want my students to perform because they see merit in the music itself. I do know that the group of kids I have now want to be a part of a sound that’s bigger than themselves, and that can be a pretty awesome sound.”