Hersey bands to play Carnegie Hall Friday

Hersey High School's concert and symphonic bands have played prestigious venues before, but on Friday they will play at one of the most famous concert halls in the world: Carnegie Hall in New York.

Band members were scheduled to depart for New York Wednesday night after performing earlier in the evening in the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 Honors Music Festival at Forest View Educational Center in Arlington Heights.

“It's a once in a lifetime opportunity,” says junior trumpeter Thomas Martin of Mount Prospect. “Some of the best musicians in the world have played there.”

Hersey's bands will share the stage with the wind symphony and symphonic band from William Mason High School in Cincinnati. Their concert completes a weeklong series described by promoters as the “Best of the Midwest.”

The opportunity came up last June, when Hersey's band director, Scott Casagrande received a phone call from New York promoter Lee Walter. He asked if Hersey's band would be interested in filling an opening on March 4 at Carnegie Hall.

Hersey is the first high school band Walter has worked with in his 40 years of promoting. Just last May, he brought the concert band from the University of Notre Dame to play at Carnegie Hall, arranging for its famous alumnus, Regis Philbin, to join them.

Casagrande didn't have to think too long about the offer. He grabbed the opportunity and band students have been fundraising and preparing much of the school year for their trip.

“We're really concentrating on our dynamics and making it appealing for the audience,” says junior saxophone player Mike Price of Mount Prospect. “We want to portray all the emotions in the pieces that the composers intended.”

By Tuesday, the Stern Auditorium had nearly sold out for the performance, with only 200 of its 2,000 seats left.

The program will feature the concert band playing three selections, including the sweeping piece, “Shenandoah,” by Frank Ticheli, while Hersey's symphonic band will play four selections, closing with the playful “Slava,” written by Leonard Bernstein.

Casagrande says his bands have approached the concert much like they do a competition or festival, where they rehearse daily to polish their pieces, getting them to performance level.

“At competitions and festivals, they're critiqued by a panel of three judges, but here, they will be playing in front of professional critics,” Casagrande says. “I know of at least one New York critic who has confirmed his attendance.

“They will be playing on the same stage that Leonard Bernstein, Gershwin, Stravinsky, Louis Armstrong and the Beatles all played,” Casagrande says. “I hope it's something they always remember.”