How important is music to you? For some, they only see it as a form of entertainment, even as little as background noise on a car radio. But for others, such as Titusville High School senior Chase Upchurch, music is much more. As a way to express his feelings toward music, Upchurch will be performing a concert on Tuesday evening, as part of his senior project, with the topic being the importance of music, and how music is in all of the core subjects in school. The first part of the concert will include Upchurch speaking to the audience on the importance of music, explaining what an integral part of society it is. Even in the education system, Upchurch noted that music is included in less expected subjects, such as math, social studies and even gym. “Everything in school has music in it,” said Upchurch. “It just shows how relevant music is in all of our lives.” Upchurch said that this performance will also showcase his abilities as a composer, singer, piano player and conductor. There will be four pieces performed during the concert, all of which were composed by Upchurch throughout his high school career. “Going along with music, people only use it for entertainment,” said Upchurch. “They don’t use it to the full capacity. Music is something that sticks with you. It can be used for more than entertainment.” Upchurch hopes to convey that idea through his performance. He will begin with his latest composition, “Without You,” which was written for St. Boniface Church’s Christmas performance. He will also be accompanying it on piano, while Joe Thompson, another local musician, will be singing the other male part. Then, Upchurch will perform a second piece on piano. Another composition will be a jazz ensemble piece with music educators Lane Fortney, Mario Steffanina, Stephanie Cicero and Kevin Vinson, as well as his friend and classmate, Ben Snyder. Fortney will be playing the trumpet, Steffanina on bass guitar, Cicero on drumset, Strong on tenor sax, Vinson on alto sax, and Snyder on bass trombone. Upchurch will be conducting the ensemble. His last composition will be a multi-movement piece that expresses various seasons throughout the year, which will again be performed on piano by Upchurch. Upchurch said he’s very grateful for the school administration, for continuing to support and fund the music program. He added that, while music is on the decline in other school districts, this district’s is growing. “Our music program is extremely booming,” said Upchurch. “This is the largest number we’ve had in years.” He noted the success was due to the teachers and other strong leaders in the music programs. “As a combined effort, even the community is so supportive. But, there are so many places that aren’t so fortunate,” and Upchurch hopes to inform his audience, and even more people, that music is a necessary tool in the world, especially in education. “When it’s being taken out of education in schools, colleges, and stuff like that, it’s saddening, especially to a musician, who understands how much music can help someone, not only academically, emotionally, but even physically.” Upchurch said that his involvement with music has “pretty much been forever.” He said he took lessons for three or four months when he was about 8 years old, but had to quit due to school sports. After about a year, he began to take music more seriously, and teach himself to play piano. He added that many of his friends played piano, so he started to get more involved, and even when the others “started to fall off, I kept going.” Upchurch plans on going to college for music education, and would eventually like to teach high school students. He plans on applying to Slippery Rock University, and said he’d ideally like to attend there. He said that he has his audition to the school later this month. His Colestock Auditorium concert will be held on Tuesday, at 7 p.m., at the high school. There is a fee, and all proceeds will go toward the school district’s music department. Upchurch hopes that, with his performance, it will encourage people to pass along information, to help educate even more people on the importance of music. “Music is a form of communication, and a lot of people don’t realize that,” added Upchurch. “Music is definitely an entertainment, but it’s also a way for us to feel human. And to be human is to feel emotions and be interactive with other things. And music is one of the ways that people do that.” This article comes from the Titusville Herald, Titusville, PA. One of our employees hails from here and wanted to share this with us. In an economy that has been really tough and in an era where the arts have had real struggles, it is so refreshing to learn of this young mans dreams and success!!
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 16:54:54 +0000
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