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Brad DeMilo, the well-respected director of the Farmingdale High School band remembers the days when there were only 17 students in the school's marching band. That was during one year in the late 1970s, he recently recalled, and things have changed dramatically since then.
This year, the band has 180 participants, including the Dalerettes and the Colorguard. "We're going through this renaissance," he said, reflecting on the current high level of enthusiasm and wealth of talented students in the group. It is expected to include over 200 students next year.
The marching band is not alone in its growth. Across Farmingdale Schools, faculty and students seem to agree on one thing - there is a buzz about the music program.
The growth has been attributed by teachers, administrators, and students to increase in school population, the new nine period day, and a reinvigorated staff of teachers.
Alyson Langdon, 17, a senior at Farmingdale High School and vice-president of the Women's Chorus there said she has seen an improvement in the group since she entered the school. "It's gotten a lot bigger. The sound is improved," she said. Four years ago, when the group's current director Michelle Lindsley came on board, there were 35 students in the Women's Chorus. Now, the group boasts close to 150 members.
Andrew DesRault, 16, a junior at the high school who plays the clarinet in the high school band, said he has been able to participate more in the music program this year than in previous years, thanks to the new nine-period day. Before this year, the school day had eight periods. Because of the new schedule, students like DesRault, who is in the school's TriM Music Honor Society and participates in New York State Schools Music Association (NYSSMA) competitions, can now take more than one music class. "The school has an excellent music department," he said.
Rebecca Baer, 15, a sophomore at the high school who plays the violin, said the school's orchestra has evolved since she entered the school. She credited her orchestra teacher, Matthew Szabo, who is relatively new at the school. "He brought in a lot of new curriculum," she said.
Howitt Middle School's choral and instrumental groups have also experienced recent growth, according to school administrators. For example, there are now 102 students in the wind ensemble and 118 in the symphonic band. "We're just bursting at the seams. It's wonderful," said, Rita Padden, fine arts director for Farmingdale Public Schools.
Mary Ingrassia, who has taught in Farmingdale schools for over 25 years, traces the growth that many have alluded to back to the melding of the visual arts and musical arts into one department, which occurred about ten years ago. "I think the largest change that occurred was when they made the department of fine arts," she said.
The creation of the department, Ingrassia noted, was the turning point, because teachers gained greater support from school administrators, particularly from the new department director, Maria Aquilina, who preceded Padden. "We've enjoyed, in the last nine years, a tremendous amount of support from the two directors we've had," added Ingrassia, who was choral director and music theory instructor at the high school for 14 years and now teaches general music at Northside Elementary School. "When you're very supportive of your personnel, you're out there fighting for them," she said, noting that this motivates teachers, who in turn motivate the students. She added that the junior chorus at Northside has grown from 70 students last year to 110 this year.
Dr. Robert J. Schultz, assistant superintendent of Farmingdale Schools for curriculum, noted that the school administration has hired additional teachers in recent years to accommodate the growth in the music program. He, too, has noticed the the buzz. "Each time I hear one of the bands or orchestras or choruses, it's just getting better and better," he said.
