Kim Omune of the Naples High School jazz band sings at the end of the concert by the combined Aviano and Naples high school bands Wednesday night. (Jason Chudy / S&S)
Kim Omune of the Naples High School jazz band sings at the end of the concert by the combined Aviano and Naples high school bands Wednesday night. (Jason Chudy / S&S)
Gary Marvel, right, directs members of the combined Naples and Aviano high school bands during a concert Wednesday night at the Naples school gymnasium. (Jason Chudy / S&S)
Ryan Fordham, an eighth-grader at Aviano High School, practices clarinet before a combined concert by Aviano and Naples high school band members. Clarinetists and oboists were helped during the day by Air Force Staff Sgt. Kenny Drefke, at right, a clarinetist with the NATO Joint Force Command band. (Jason Chudy / S&S)
Bob Benson directs the combined Naples and Aviano high school bands. About 200 people attended the free concert, the first combined band event ever for the two schools. (Jason Chudy / S&S)
NAPLES, Italy — The halls of Naples High School echoed with music Wednesday as its band members joined with those from Aviano High School for their first combined concert.
And for one day at least, their traditional sports rivalry was set aside as the students practiced together and then performed for a about 200 concertgoers.
“The bands played well together,” said Aviano ninth-grader and tenor saxophone player Josh Kelsey after the concert. “Really well, considering our rivalry.”
While the rivalry remained in most of the students’ minds, it was quickly drowned out by the music.
“It’s not a competition,” Naples band director Gary Marvel said about the day. “This gives them experience so that they’ll be better musicians.”
“Music, in this case, is a win-win situation,” said Aviano band director Robert Benson. “To me … it’s partly corny, but it’s a harmony. They’re working together in a harmonious way.”
Marvel and Benson came up with the idea for a combined concert in October 2004 to coincide with Music in Our Schools Month, which kicked off in March 1985.
The 31 Aviano eighth- to 12th-graders arrived Tuesday in Naples, stayed with host families that night and joined with the nearly 50 Naples band members Wednesday morning for a day’s worth of practice.
The musicians were broken into small groups and spent part of the day with members of the Joint Force Command and 6th Fleet bands honing their skills.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Kenny Drefke, a JFC band member, coached a handful of clarinetists and oboists in the Naples Elementary School hallway, drawing stares — and even a few dance moves — from the younger pupils.
“It’s always good when bands from other schools play together,” Drefke said as the students took a short break. “It’s going very well. We’re just coming in and polishing the music for tonight.”
The students and directors said those few hours of practice really made a difference in the performance.
“They helped us clean up our sound,” Kelsey said of the military band members. “They helped out a lot.”
And as the first notes of “Torch of Liberty” echoed through the school’s gym that evening, all the day’s work seemingly paid off. The combined band performed four numbers, each school performed one individually, then the Naples Jazz Band finished the concert.
Each director also took turns directing the joint band.
“We clicked really quickly,” Naples ninth-grader and piano player Meghan Louk said after the show. “It’s fun to see the other band [members] and play with them. It’s different.”
Marvel said he hopes to take the Naples band to Aviano for another joint concert later in the school year.
“Imagine what we could do if we had more than one day,” Benson said.
