MCSD Music Department

Welcome to the MCSD Music Department's home on the web! On this smore you'll be able to find out about all the great things happening with our Manheim Central musicians, from Kindergarten on up!

Make sure to SCROLL down to find out what's happening MUSICALLY in MCSD!!!

Students in Manheim Central receive regular classroom music instruction in grades K-8. Beginning in 4th grade, students have the opportunity to begin regular instrumental instruction on band and orchestra instruments.

At the middle school level (grades 5-8), students have the opportunity to elect participation in applied music ensembles--band, chorus, and orchestra--which meet twice during a 6-day cycle. Other opportunities at the middle school level include select performance ensembles such as jazz band and meistersingers, as well as participation in honor festivals including LLMEA MS County Orchestra, LLMEA MS County Band and PMEA District 7 Songfest.

At the high school level (grades 9-12), students have the opportunity to elect courses that will fulfill their humanities graduation requirement--Music Technology, Music Theater, Arts Connections--as well as applied ensembles such as Concert Band, Concert Choir and Orchestra. Additional elective courses include Music Theory and AP Music Theory; additional applied ensemble opportunities include Chansodié (vocal ensemble), Jazz Band (extra-curricular) and Marching Band (extra-curricular). Students also have the opportunity to audition and participate in honors festivals include LLMEA Band, Jazz Band, Chorus and Orchestra, PMEA District 7 Band, Jazz Band, Chorus and Orchestra, PMEA Region V Band, Chorus and Orchestra, and PMEA All-State Band, Chorus and Orchestra. Some students have also successfully auditioned for NAfME All-National Honors Ensembles.

Regardless of the educational setting, the music teachers of MCSD strive to deliver an engaging, vibrant music curriculum that will enable students to both create and respond to music in meaningful ways, and prepare them for a lifetime of successful and continuing interactions with music, both actively and passively.

On November 16th, the PMEA District 7 Songfest was held at Cocalico Middle School. The festival included almost 150 7th and 8th singers from Lancaster, Lebanon, York, Dauphin, Adams, Franklin, Cumberland and Perry counties. The choir was conducted by Dr. Mark Boyle from Seton Hill University.

MCMS was represented by 7th graders Katelynn Haugh, Ava Graff, Gianna Reed and Nick Margerum, and 8th graders Rachel Ruffner, Cole Lubeskie and Heidi Enterline. Performers independently prepared a varied repertoire and came together for an intense music making experience!

On November 1, MCHS Orchestra members Evangeline Guttedar, Luke Peiffer, Yaritza Navarro-Fernandez, Corban Shenk and Daniel Stoltzfus participated in the 2019 Lebanon Valley College Honors Orchestra hosted at LVC. The festival included 130 musicians from various districts in Berks, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Montgomery, and York counties.

The musicians rehearsed together for a total of 7 hours and performed in concert Saturday evening in Blair Music Center. We are thankful for the opportunity to participate in this festival and proud that these learners represented the Manheim Central Music Department with excellence. Bravo!

Mrs. Wagner's beginning band students have the opportunity to use "SmartMusic," a web/cloud-based program to complement and enhance their musical growth. SmartMusic allows students the opportunity to play along with accompaniment, practice at different tempos, and analyze mistakes to target growth areas.

Students are learning to think critically, be problem-finders, problem-solvers, and are turning STEM into STEAM!

On Saturday, November 9, the Manheim Central Marching Barons competed in the Cavalcade of Bands Grand Championships at Hersheypark Stadium, where they awarded the silver medal in the Patriot 'A' Division, as well as the special awards for "high music" and "most improved." Their final championships score was an 88.8--a growth of 20 points over the course of the competition season!

The Marching Barons have been medalists 7 out of the last 11 years at Cavalcade Grand Championships.

Congratulations to members of the Marching Barons on a great season of hard work and growth!

As our district moves forward with the MCL (Mass Customized Learning) initiative to reach every student, Doe Run Elementary is piloting an enrichment time during the day for fourth graders, allowing them to explore areas of their interests. Two of our elementary music teachers--Megan Wagner and Alden Hoke--are giving students the chance to make music differently from their classroom experiences.

Mr. Hoke meets with a group of students interested in group singing. During their time together, they work on vocal warm-ups, breathing techniques and finding their best singing voices.

Mrs. Wagner works with the "Doe Run Rattlers," a self-named Orff instrument ensemble. During enrichment they learn proper playing technique, improvise their own melodies on the xylophone and collaborate to compose and play multi-layered Orff instrument arrangements.

On November 8, ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) sponsored "Sweet Soundsations, a choral festival for 7th and 8th grade girls. Over 200 students participated, including MCMS 7th grader Julia Rohrer. The participants independently prepared a varied repertoire and came together under the direction of Lauren Walker, conductor of the Annapolis Children's Choir for an amazing day of music making!

It's been a fantastic year already for our choral program. Under the direction of Ms. Christa Schimitsch, the following students auditioned and qualified for the Lancaster-Lebanon Music Educators Association (LLMEA) County Chorus:

Megan Stitzel
Bella Harrill

Maddie Kreider

Sarah Rhodes

Katie Pilsner

Audrey Cressler

Ben Gingrich

Additionally, the following students auditioned and qualified for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 7 Choir:

Megan Stitzel

Bella Harrill

Sarah Rhodes

Audrey Cressler

Ben Gingrich

PMEA District 7 includes school districts from Lancaster, York, Lebanon, Adams, Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry and Franklin counties.

For both festivals, the students were part of hundreds from south central Pennsylvania who auditioned and competed for the opportunity to be a part of these ensembles.

Congratulations!

This summer we welcomed a new member to our music faculty--Mrs. Alicia Brackbill (replacing Christine Oetama as an elementary general music teacher and the beginning strings director).

Alicia is a 2006 graduate of Millersville University and a 2018 graduate of Lebanon Valley College, earning a Master's Degree in Music Education. Prior to her arrival at Manheim, Alicia spent 8 years teaching elementary general music, band, chorus and orchestra in the School District of Lancaster. Most recently, she spent 5 years at home raising a son Iain, and twins Galen and Ainsley. During that time, she also maintained a private teaching studio of approximately 30 students and became certified in Musikgarten early childhood music, offering early childhood music classes in the Manheim and Ephrata areas.

We wish her the best as she begins the next chapter in her teaching career!

The MCHS and MCMS 7/8 Bands gave the WORLD PREMIERE performances of "Chasing Mercury" by Dr. Travis J. Weller at their spring concerts on Tuesday, May 14 and Thursday, May 16, 2019.

Dr. Weller composed "Chasing Mercury" for the combined 7/8 and High School Bands on a commission funded by a grant from MCFEE. The students in both bands were able to gain an acute understanding of what goes into composing a piece of music for a large ensemble, choices a composer has to make about what instruments should play what parts, the flow and sequence of musical ideas, etc. through detailed workshop and clinic sessions with him.

The ability for performing musicians to have such a deep understanding of a piece of music, and learn directly from its composer, not only leads to a substantially more informed performance, but incredible musical growth for the performers.

Recently, Dr. Weller informed us that "Chasing Mercury" will by published by Carl Fischer Music, Inc., ensuring that concerts band everywhere have the opportunity to experience this wonderful work in perpetuity. Our commission information accompany every copy of the work!

Amazingly, the first time bands combined to play the piece was at the first premier performance!

Be sure to take a look at the pictures below and video of BOTH performances! (Video courtesy of Clearfish Studio)

The Manheim Momentum Percussion Ensemble, an instructor-led, peer-driven percussion ensemble for any students in grades 7-12, began 5 years with the help of a generous grant from MCFEE. The ensemble has grown steadily over the years in both membership and achievement.

This year, in addition to performances at district concerts in April and May, Momentum was able to branch out and perform at two additional events. At the Manheim Township Percussion Exchange Concert on April 24, Momentum performed alongside percussion ensembles from Manheim Township, Lancaster Catholic and Ephrata High Schools, giving them the opportunity to interact with their peers from other schools and explore additional percussion repertoire.

On Saturday, April 27 Momentum traveled to Messiah College to perform for and work with some of the top percussionists and percussion clinicians in the country at the Percussive Arts Society's Pennsylvania Day of Percussion.

At both of these performances as well as spring concerts in our district, Momentum premiered "Pan Dulce," a composition by Manheim Central sophomore and Momentum member, David Graff. Congratulations, David!

Manheim Momentum and the Manheim Central Band Program would like to graciously thank MCFEE for their continued support; the explosive growth of the programs and our students, and the ability to perform at these events would not be possible without them!

On Thursday, April 4 at their annual season kick-off night, the Manheim Central Marching Barons revealed the theme for their 2019 field show as well as a new marching band logo.

The 2019 Marching Barons field show will be titled "The Sunken Cathedral," drawing on various legends about a great cathedral in a doomed, sunken city. The show will feature classical music from composers such as impressionist Claude Debussy and opera composer Richard Wagner, as well as modern wind band composers David Maslanka and John Mackey.

The Marching Barons also debuted a new organizational logo, updating the original logo that was created almost 10 years ago. You can check out the theme logo, new organizational logo and the theme reveal video below!

Last year the high school concert band, through the gracious auspices of MCFEE, were able to commission a new work for wind band, "Joshua's Shop of Miracles and Curiosities" from composer Jim Colonna, learn about the composition process, workshop the piece with him, and world premiere it.

This year, again with support from MCFEE, the COMBINED 7/8 and high school concert bands have commissioned and will premier a new work for concert band from composer Travis J. Weller, entitled "Chasing Mercury."

Both bands are excited to begin working on the piece in rehearsal and with the composer. The piece will be world-premiered at the 7/8 and high school spring concerts in May.

On Saturday, November 10, the Manheim Central Marching Barons competed in the Cavalcade of Bands Grand Championships at Hersheypark Stadium, where they awarded the silver medal in the Patriot 'A' Division, as well as the special award for "high percussion." Their final championships score was an 89.2--the fourth highest championship score the band has achieved.

The Marching Barons have been medalists 6 out of the last 10 years at Cavalcade Grand Championships.

Congratulations to members of the Marching Barons on a great season of hard work and growth!

On October 8th, Manheim Central Middle School was the host to 215 music educators and college students for the annual Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Professional Development Day. PMEA professional Development Chair, Jim Kimmel and MCSD Music Department Member Stephanie Magaro worked together to arrange the details of a full work day worth of interest sessions, concerts, and repertoire reading sessions that catered to teachers in the field of music education.

The day began with an incredible concert played by the Mansfield University Wind Ensemble. Some of the sessions offered included Quick Cello Fixes, Effective and Artistic Conducting, Dancing Through the Curriculum, Practical Application of Vocal Exercises, Teaching Timpani from the Podium, and Forms of Anxiety: Using Neuroscience.

All sessions were targeted at different areas of music education: band, choir, orchestra, general music, music technology, and special education. The one-day conference was well attended and proved to be a valuable source of knowledge, resources, and information, all shared by esteemed music educators. The annual in-service day is a great opportunity for practicing music educators to re-ignite passion and refocus energy by learning from expert colleagues in our field.

PMEA would like to thank Manheim Central School District and the middle school for hosting and for the use of the facilities and the support of the administration!

The secondary bands of Manheim Central (7/8 and High School) have a new home on the web. Parents of band members (or anyone interested in what we do in band) can take a look at http://manheimcentralbands.weebly.com.

Information about philosophy, schedule, initiatives, social media presence, etc., can all be found on the website.

This summer we welcomed two new members to our music faculty--Mrs. Megan Wagner (replacing Nick Reginella as the Beginning Band Director) and Mr. Karl Segletes (replacing Adam Eisenreich as the 5/6 Band Director).

Megan is homegrown--a 2013 graduate of Manheim Central High School and a 2017 graduate of Cairn University in Philadelphia, PA. Karl is a 2018 graduate of Gettysburg College.

We wish them the best as they begin their teaching careers!

Exciting things are happening in the high school band program! The reigning Cavalcade of Bands Patriot ‘A’ Champion Marching Barons are continuing to experience growth and are 117 members strong—the largest they have been in more than a decade! To convey the story of this year’s theme show, Pompeii, the Marching Barons are getting an education in music ranging from Baroque opera of the 1600’s to original wind band music and modern movie scores! The marching band has performed well in its first two competitions, garnering a High Percussion award at the Conestoga Valley Cavalcade of Bands Show on September 23. The Marching Barons will perform in exhibition on October 28 as they host a show here at Manheim Central, and will perform at the New Oxford Cavalcade of Bands show on Saturday, November 4, and the Cavalcade of Bands Patriot Division Grand Championships at J. Birney Crum stadium in Allentown on Sunday, November 12.

On October 2, the high school concert band students had the opportunity to experience a performance and Q&A session with some members on the “President’s Own” United States Marine Band—the most highly regard service band in America—right in our own auditorium! The Marine Band members performed selections as a woodwind quintet (flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn), explained the music in their performance, discussed both their path to becoming a professional musician and their roles and responsibilities as a professional musician and member of the Marine Band. It was a great experience for our students to see musicians who play their same instruments, at such a high level of virtuosity, and understand the discipline, practice and rigor that goes into both technical facility and musicianship. The students, clearly impressed, asked many thoughtful questions that will hopefully drive their own continued pursuit of musical excellence.

Additionally, through the generous auspices of McFEE, the high school concert band has been able to commission a brand new musical work, written specifically for our band, by Dr. Jim Colonna, a local composer of high standing in the wind band world, and Director of Bands at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA. His music has been performed at many honors band festivals across the country, prestigious college ensembles such as the Hartt Wind Ensemble and professional ensembles, including the Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides. Dr. Colonna has communicated with the band throughout his writing process to give them a unique insight on composing, and will continue to workshop the piece with the band as they rehearse and practice, giving them the additional, unique experience of actually working with the composer of a piece in their repertoire. The Manheim Central High School Concert Band will have the honor of WORLD PREMIERING the piece at the high school spring concert, Thursday May 15, 2018.

Mrs. Stephanie Magaro, 5-8 Choir Director as MCMS will be hosting the PMEA District 7 Middle School Songfest on Saturday, November 18. The festival will consist of some of the most promising middle school choir students from PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educator's Association) District 7 schools. PMEA District 7 encompasses Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York Counties.

Students will come together during the morning and afternoon to rehearse a diverse repertoire of music in preparation for a 4pm concert.

The combined choir will be rehearsed and directed by guest conductor Ryan Beeken. Beeken proudly serves as Director of Choral Studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he conducts the University Chorale, Chorus, and Chamber Singers and teaches graduate and undergraduate choral conducting. Beeken also serves as Artistic Director for the Blair Concert Chorale, whose mission includes fostering a growing appreciation of quality choral music for the population of south central Pennsylvania. He received Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from Drake University and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University.

Beeken's choirs have performed at state, regional, and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and have been invited to perform for state and regional conferences for the National Association for Music Education. A frequent clinician and festival director, Beeken is regularly engaged as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States; since 2013, his engagements include more than 30 All-States and Honor Choirs in twelve states and many invited presentations for symposia across the United States and in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

He has served on the executive committee of the American Choral Directors Association at both the state and regional level and is currently serving as the District 3 President-Elect for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association.

Prior to his appointment at IUP, Beeken taught at Michigan State University, where he conducted the Women's Glee Club. Also, while residing in Des Moines, Iowa, he directed the Drake Chorale at Drake University. He also taught elementary, middle school, and high school music for sixteen years, most recently serving as Director of Vocal Music for Waukee Schools in suburban Des Moines where he lead a program of over 300 students and twelve ensembles to national distinction.

Tickets for the 4pm concert on November 18 will $3 and sold at the door.

Email: brackbillj@manheimcentral.org
Location: Manheim, PA, United States
Phone: 717 664 8515