One of the best things about going to school in Boston is having nearly unlimited access to the other hundred schools in the Boston area. Between the ProArts Consortium and various partnership programs, there’s easily something for everyone in the city. Having been disappointed in Emerson’s lack of a music program, I started looking into other schools in the area, and discovered that Boston College’s marching band accepts students from various “partner schools,” with Emerson being one of them. The band practices twice a week, with weekend performances, and a jam-packed schedule for partner school members. A typical Tuesday/Thursday schedule might look something like this:
5:30 PM: The partner school members from Emerson meet up at the Boylston T stop, and depart for Boston College on the B or D line. The T is typically crowded with Red Sox fans and people coming home from work.
6:30 PM: We arrive at Boston College just a little too early, and wait in the bands office for BC’s jazz band, BoP, to finish practicing.
6:45 PM: After setting up our instruments, the band checks in and gathers in the band room for our student leaders and our band director, Dave Healey, to make the day’s announcements.
7:00 PM: Practice begins on the field. The band divides into sections by instrument, and warms up with vocals and lip slurs. My section, high brass, is led by the man himself, Dave Healey.
8:00 PM: Following sectional warm ups, the band comes together for musical run-throughs of whatever we’re working on for that week. For our recent practices, this includes the music for our Carmen marching show, the Clemson University fight song, and An Unforgettable Smile, a piece written to memorialize a deceased BC student.
8:15 PM: After the band has played together, we review our pregame show, which is performed before every football game.
8:30 PM: This is when the real work begins. Since the band learns two different halftime shows for every season, we’re constantly learning new material to put on the field. During this section of practice, we not only review what we’ve already learned of our current field show, but we also spend time learning and cleaning new sets so that the show looks and sounds incredible for the upcoming game.
9:40 PM: As the end of practice approaches, we do two run-throughs of our Carmen field show, once singing the music, and once playing.
9:50 PM: At this point in the season, our first field show, How To Train Your Dragon, is second nature to most members, but we again do two run-throughs, singing and playing.
10:00 PM: The band gathers for wrap-up. Kneeling at the front of the field (no sitting allowed during practice!), the band once again listens to any weekly or daily reminders from the student leaders about upcoming events or practices.
10:20 PM: Partner school members from Emerson, Berklee, and Wentworth gather at the Boston College T stop to depart.
11:00 PM: Arrive back at Emerson.
Tuesday and Thursday nights are long and exhausting for most partner school members, but BC Band is both enjoyable and gratifying, with perks like free tickets to see the Boston Pops Orchestra, an all-expense paid trip to Montreal, and priceless, unreproducible moments of camaraderie.