EGHS concert to debut new song
   Erin Holmes Daily Herald Staff Writer

Here's the deal: Elk Grove High School on Wednesday will perform a concert - in itself, not too unusual. But if you're looking for ordinary, you won't find it there. The concert, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., will feature a rare appearance of the band and choir together, in the premiere of a song written especially for Elk Grove High School.

To make things more interesting, the song was composed by the nephew of the football coach.

For band director Brian White, the situation presented the perfect chance to unify the vocal, instrumental and athletic departments."The band and choir haven't done a lot together in the past. I thought it would be great to get together, work together, and bring our departments closer together," White said, adding that "a lot of times band directors and football coaches butt heads."The piece was composed by Gordon Bazsali Jr., a college friend of White's and the nephew of head football coach Bruce Bazsali. Titled "Song of Spring," the 10-minute work speaks of winter turning into spring and summer.

Metaphorically, however, it tells of a new beginning; perfect, White said, for the impending graduation.The composer has worked with the group during rehearsals, and will be at Wednesday's concert."It's actually pretty uncommon," White said. "I believe (the kids) feel a real sense of pride in this. It's very rewarding."

Gordon Bazsali began music composition at the age of 14, and had his first large-scale work performed by his own high school band at the age of 18. He since has earned a master's degree in music composition and is active as an arranger, conductor, recording producer and trumpet instructor.

Wednesday's concert also is unusual in that it won't feature only works by composers long gone - Bach and Mozart, for instance - but also modern works from living artists, including Bazsali and Frank Ticheli, whose "American Elegy" is dedicated to the victims of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

The concert will be staged in the gymnasium of the school, 500 W. Elk Grove Blvd. Tickets are $2 for adults and $1 for students and are available at the door. Senior citizens will be admitted free.
Gordon Bazsali Jr., standing, is the nephew of Elk Grove High School head football coach Bruce Bazsali. The high school band and choir's Wednesday concert will feature the debut of Bazsali's "Song of Spring," a 10-minute piece commisioned for the band. Elk Grove High School band director Brian White, below, directs his band in rehearsal. Daily Herald Photos/John Starks

This won't be the halftime show you're used to

Elk GroveHigh School 'scramble band' says performances will be more fun for
them, and you
   Erin Holmes Daily Herald Staff Writer

Take everything society's taught you about marching band and blow it right out your horn. All of it. The geometric formations, the plumed hats, the lengthy symphonic music pieces and - oh yes - the marching. Now drum this new phrase into your head: scramble band.

This is Elk Grove High School's fresh and daring approach to marching band, and it could become the most used phrase to hit the halftime scene since "One time, at band camp" was heard in the "American Pie" movie.Only this belies the stereotypes.

"People have assumed, as the rest of the world has, that marching band is a bunch of geeks," senior marching band member Christine O'Keefe says. "People have their stereotypes. Hopefully, this will help alleviate those."

The new approach, which brings a new show to every game and calls on the audience to stay involved, is a far cry from the band's "West Side Story" show last year.

But Director Brian White believes the new approach will be a hit, touting it as a chance to draw more students, try something a little different and involve the community.The kids, on the whole, think it's great, though there are some who have spoken out against the idea and a couple who dropped band.Other directors wish the band well - and say they're curious. "It's definitely different," says Chris Buti, Rolling Meadows High School's marching band director. "I'd definitely like to see it."

The concept is taken from the Ivy League, where bands have successfully scrambled for decades.The technique trades precision maneuvers for humor, and competitiveness for entertainment, changing shows every game and using themed, comedic scripts as backdrops for routines filled with pep band-style music and recognizable pictures and images. Kids, dressed in uniforms that don't include feathered band hats, scramble to their spots.There's no beat. No set pathway.When they get there, the images, paired with the music, serve as the punch lines to the script's jokes.

"It's a comedy routine," White says. "We're trying to be more entertaining. I think the audience is really going to enjoy it. I think, at first, they'll be like, 'Hey, what's this?' But I think this will grab their attention." This year, the band will spoof the stock market, poke fun at the director and lampoon a couple of football teams. No names given.

But rest assured. All scripts, written by students and teachers who coordinate the school's variety show have been edited and OK'd by school officials."Some of them are really hilarious," senior Michelle Perez says. "The big thing with it, though, is the crowd has to be really involved in it. If you catch it, it's hilarious. You can be cracking up all night."

While most bands often "scramble" or "scatter" to certain formations once in a while, it's hardly the norm. Twisting tricky- to-pull-off geometric forms have taken the place of pictures, and the music is more comprehensive. Bands, even at the high school level, spend hours at camp at summer's end and during the year, perfecting a single tough competition show that calls for exactness and, inevitably, a lot of time.

And that's part of the problem.

At some schools, marching band is required of all students in the overall band program. At Elk Grove High, kids can be in concert band without signing up to march - and plenty chose that route.White knows exactly why.Too many things to do. Not enough time to spend in grueling rehearsals. Conflicts with scheduled competitions, especially in his group, which includes athletes.

A junior in the band led him to Princeton University's Web site, which includes a detailed explanation of the college's scramble club. "People love it," says Princeton band member Pat Miller, who grew up in Wisconsin watching traditional marching bands. "When we go to other schools that have more traditional marching band programs, they get a kick out of it because it's something different."

The newness of the style here, he says, will make people come. Plus, the new style requires less time - Elk Grove High members spent only a couple of hours a day at band week this year - making it more appealing to busy students."We said, 'Hmm, this might work,' " White said. So far, it has.

Some, though, remain skeptical.They don't deny scramble band may prove thoroughly entertaining for audiences, but they fear the loss of marching and symphonic music could result in the loss of education."Without ever having actually done this, it doesn't seem to me that it would be as demanding in terms of discipline and control," says Randy Kummer, a retired director and the executive director of the Illinois Music Educators Association. "We have enough difficulty making a case for marching band as a viable thing for education."

Others argue scramble band can be just as educational as traditional marching band, focusing on more music with new pieces for each game, and revere it for the opportunity it brings to hand audiences a new show weekly. And some point out marching band specifically, and its techniques, aren't necessarily essential elements of a music education.

"You don't have to have a marching band," says Dave Morrison, director of the Prospect High School Marching Knights in Mount Prospect. "You have to have an artistic outlet for students. It can be through a lot of things. You don't have to get the music education done in any one specific way."

And what about Elk Grove's experiment? "I think it can be successful," the longtime Prospect director says. "It's a matter of people getting past their own particular biases and letting themselves just give it a chance."Even the skeptical Kummer won't rule out success. "Let the chips fall where they may," he says. "If he (White) sees a purpose in this, then go for it."

The band already has grown from the original 38 members who signed on for this year to 65 kids.And White has high hopes."My thought is that as the years go by, more and more kids will be doing this scramble band," he says. "It'll just be the thing to do."

The debut comes Friday, during the school's first home varsity football game, against Elgin. The band will perform at four other home games this season, including a homecoming show they'd like to invite alumni to participate in - now that learning a complex show isn't required. The group is making halftimes its main performances, choosing not to compete at all this year.