Marching, Making Music, And Winning

Robert Wheeler says he was fortunate that he knew when he was a student at in the early 1990s, and a trumpet player in the OA marching band, that he wanted to teach music someday.  And when he graduated from OA in 1995, he went on to Berklee College of Music from where here earned his bachelor’s degree in music education. 

He also loved marching bands. 

“For so long I enjoyed watching the great Southern university bands,” said Wheeler.  “These bands were directly inspired by the rich history and tradition of the Drum and Bugle Corps.”

Six years ago Wheeler came to OA and joined the school’s award winning music department (really, for several years now the teachers and students within the department have been winning awards and bringing home trophies across a variety of music disciplines) to teach music and direct its marching band. 

Since his arrival, Wheeler has done a great job, tripling participation in the marching band and stewarding it to area eminence. 

Perhaps most people in town only watch and see the band perform and provide entertainment at halftime of the home Tiger football games – but that is just a portion of its activity.  The band competes; it is a competitive squad and is out to win. 

This past Sunday the OA 64 member band was at Cawley Memorial Stadium in Lowell where it was among 32 high school bands from across the Commonwealth participating in the Massachusetts Instrumental Choral and Conductors Association (MICCA) state finals.  The kids from OA were superb, achieving the highest standard that MICCA sets, an achievement for which the squad earned an MICCA Gold Medal. 

“We really have a commitment to excellence; we are focused on every detail,” said Wheeler.  “Every person in the band understands that he or she is just as important as the next person.  It always has to be about ‘us,’ not about ‘you.’   Teamwork is everything.  It isn’t like in football, where you can sub in, or you can bench someone who isn’t playing well.  We can’t switch up people and drill positions during competition.”

Wheeler explained that every marching band member has to know 72 different drill spots for the squad’s 10 minute routine. 

“Our shows and routines are custom built every year so as to optimize our talent and personnel,” said Wheeler.   

So accomplished and excellent is the OA Marching Band that on the invite of U.S. Senator John Kerry it will be the sole Massachusetts high school marching band to participate in the 2012 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington D.C. 

Drum major, Markus Ayasse, and color guard captain, Haley Kallfelz, provide the student band leadership this year. 

“Our band is also known for its clean look and crisp uniforms, and that our shirts are always tucked in,” said Wheeler, whose wife of 11 years, Kirstie, is also an OA and Berklee grad, and music teacher.   The couple and their three sons – Naaman, 6, Samuel, 5, and Thomas, 1 – live in Easton. 

A typical practice schedule for the band is from 6 until 9 in the evening on Tuesday and Thursday.  There is also practice on Saturday that lasts for three to four hours.   If there is a weekend competition, on the day of the competition, prior to leaving OA, the band will practice and go over its routine for a couple hours. 

In talking with Robert Wheeler, I learned that a band has competition warm-ups, like sports teams.

“When we get to the place where the completion is held, those who move on the field, those members of the marching unit go to one place to stretch and warm-up,” said Wheeler, “and the pit ensemble goes to another area to prepare.”

I might have been able to figure out what is the “ensemble pit” but I needed to ask Robert Wheeler about it.   Alas, as was educated, the ensemble pit, which is comprised of the band members playing the xylophone, marimba, cymbals, and vibraphone, is stationary and is situated in front of their teammates who do the marching.

Yet whether marching or not marching, all must be synchronized for success. 

After the two units within the band finish their respective warming up and preparation – which takes about a half hour – they meet at the “gate” and then walk out for “show time” and the field of competition. 

Other recent big wins and successes for the OA Marching Band are a 2008 United States Scholastic Band Association (USSBA) New England Championship crown in the 2A band size division, which the band won in New London, CT.   Last year, the band won a state USSBA championship in division 2A.  

The OA Marching Band, its director, its students – its passion and hard work and excellence – are all a great asset and educational and cultural treasure for the town. 

Everyone involved in its success deserves our credit and appreciation.