New band directors conduct winning teams
Music at Morgan Hill School District secondary schools is flourishing this year, thanks to two new band directors at the helm of the program. Erik Kalish leads the cadet and advanced bands at Martin Murphy Middle School and the band at Sobrato High School; Greg Bergantz leads the music program at Live Oak High.
Kalish was hired this summer to lead the music program at Martin Murphy and create a program at the new Sobrato High, which opened this August with 9th and 10th grade students.
Bergantz was hired in the spring to take the baton from Julie Weagle at Live Oak High. Weagle left the district before the end of the school year to continue her education on the East Coast.
Kalish has big plans for the music programs at both Martin Murphy and Sobrato. Already his enthusiasm has brought in students and is getting some of them out of bed early.
An extra-curricular Martin Murphy jazz band, which meets at 7:45am before school starts at 9am every Tuesday and Thursday, is just one of his ideas.
“I’m going to get a marching band going at Sobrato,” Kalish said. The new high school will add juniors next year and seniors the year after. Right now, the band performs as a concert band but does not march.
During the construction of Sobrato, many in the community questioned whether Morgan Hill could support two active marching bands. Live Oak’s Emerald Regime Marching Band has earned an international reputation for excellence over the years, with its successes in marching competitions in the state and at the national level, as well as performances in other countries as a part of the group’s “Journey of a Lifetime” trips to countries in Europe and Asia.
Kalish said he doesn’t believe a marching band at Sobrato would have to be competition for the Emerald Regime, and he said he believes the two could easily coexist in the community.
“As the program grows, I want to see music come alive at Sobrato,” he said. “I want to see growth, I want to have more options for students. I hope to work with other schools to promote the growth of the music program districtwide.”
Kalish takes the program seriously, reaching out very personally to increase the ranks of his cadet band at Martin Murphy.
“Before school started, we had less than 20 kids signed up for the cadet band,” he said. “So the week before school, I got on the phone and called kids who had been in the program in the elementary schools.”
By the time school opened, Kalish had recruited a group of kids, and the cadet band had swelled to more than 30 students. As someone who knew he wanted to teach music at an early age, Kalish said he is living his dream. Growing up in Ohio, he said, the public schools had music as a part of the curriculum beginning in first grade.
“Music should not be an add-on, just something extra,” he said. “Music is a part of a well-rounded education. And not just because studies have shown students who are active in music do well in math, but also music for its own sake.”
Kalish said he is glad the district has managed to keep its elementary music program for 4th-6th grade students, despite budget tightening over the past three years. He said the middle school and high school programs need the elementary program to thrive.
The Sobrato band will have its second-ever public performance – its first was during the official dedication of the high school in September – on Dec. 15 as Bulldog band students join with Martin Murphy bands for a concert at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center.
The public is invited, Kalish said, and though admission is free, the event will serve as a fundraiser for the band boosters with a silent auction and raffle during the evening. The event begins at 7:30pm.
Bergantz, who is a native of the area, came to Live Oak with knowledge of the band’s reputation for excellence. And under his guidance, they are continuing the tradition, with a recent win at the 2004 AA Western Band Association state championship in Modesto on Nov. 20. The victory had added meaning for the group and their supporters for several reasons, including Bergantz coming on board, and the fact that the group finished second behind Los Gatos during four other competitions this season.
The Emerald Regime placed sixth in the sweepstakes competition, which included A, AA and AAA bands.
“There’s a tradition here, this group is passionate about what they do,” Bergantz said. “They work hard, push themselves, expecting only the best.”
Like his students, Bergantz is driven, but his passion is providing students with the best music program he can.
“I think we have very good beginnings, but there are some things I’d like to see us do as district,” he said. “I think we need more full-time (music) teachers.”
LIke Kalish, Bergantz believes the district needs to continue and possibly expand its elementary music program.
“A strong elementary program is very important,” he said. “If you have most of your students beginning to learn their instruments in middle school, you have students that are behind, and students that are not getting the full benefits of a music program in their education.”
Teaching is a way of life with Bergantz, whose wife is a teacher. He taught at several different schools before a stint with a software company. He still indulged his love for music, as director of the San Jose Metropolitan Band for the past 15 years, but he missed teaching.
Now Live Oak High, through Bergantz, offers students the opportunity to participate in marching band, jazz ensemble, concert band and chorus.
The district’s elementary program provides all fourth grade students with basic music instruction – learning to read music and learning songs. Fifth and sixth grade students can choose between band and chorus. Students in grades 4-6 have music one day a week.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@mo*************.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 202.
