'Super excited' Ossining HS band readying for Pearl Harbor Day parade in Hawaii
OSSINING — They didn't apply for it, but the honor came just the same. Ossining High School’s marching band will represent New York state in the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade in Hawaii on Dec. 7, the 83rd anniversary of “the date which will live in infamy.”
The honor was announced by the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade Committee, the State of Hawaii, and the City of Honolulu, recognizing Ossining’s ensemble as an “outstanding ensemble which has a history of performance excellence as well as students who represent the spirit of American youth and good citizenship.”
Fifty-three students (nearly the entire band) and their teacher chaperones will make the trip and spend six days touring and playing concerts in and around Pearl Harbor.
Rodrigo Vargas has been Ossining’s band director for 27 years.
“When I got the invitation, I was super excited. No. 1, to just be recognized,” Vargas said. “It's not like we're out doing a ton of parades, like some of the other schools are. It wasn't like I had to apply and put in an application and send in videos. They reached out to us. To be recognized in that manner was huge.”
As a warmup for the school year, about half the band showed up Wednesday at an event to welcome back teachers. The brassy welcome — set to a Daft Punk medley — was met with a standing ovation.
Senior Jonathan Kang, a trumpeter, said the Pearl Harbor honor feels “surreal.”
“We have so much to look forward to. Being part of the parade, performing at various venues, meeting students from other bands from across the country, enjoying the beautiful weather, and visiting places like Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and Waikiki Beach,” Kang said. “I am just excited to be doing all these things with my friends, making good memories for my senior year.”
Fundraising underway for Ossining band's Pearl Harbor trip
The six-day trip to Hawaii for students and staff — and all those instruments and uniforms — will be costly, about $3,000 per student, said Kate Mathews, the district’s director of cultural arts. The students have already put down money for their flights and fund-raising is under way for the rest.
Mathews said the district is committed to making the trip happen for all students, regardless of their financial situation. She said fund-raising efforts have already raised nearly $40,000.
Kang said he knows the trip “costs a fortune,” but said “every little bit helps and without everyone's support we wouldn't even be dreaming of being able to go on this trip and representing our state in Pearl Harbor.”
Saxophonist Frank Murphy, a junior, said the band has done jazz concerts, a concert at the waterfront and multiple car washes to raise money. There's a website for donations. But the big fund-raiser is a benefit concert at the high school on Sept. 27, which will include a silent auction that has already attracted some top-shelf items, including an overnight stay at West Point’s Thayer Hotel, with brunch included, and chances to go boating on the Hudson.
A different parade ground, requiring a mix of patriotism and fun
Ossining’s isn’t a take-the-field-at-halftime band. They strictly do parades and pep-band songs during games.
Band director Vargas said the school population has changed in his 27 years at the helm, and the music has changed, too.
At the concert to welcome back Ossining's teachers, the band played a medley by Daft Punk. Vargas is working on the Hawaii set list, which “is going to be a little bit of a mix.”
“It definitely has to be some patriotic music in honor of the veterans, but also perhaps balanced in with a little bit more fun music,” Vargas said. “Maybe not quite the Daft Punk medley, but something that still honors them but is also fun, and just lively.”
Besides the location and the occasion, there will be another key difference when the parade steps off on Dec. 7.
“The parade is in the evening, I'm assuming because of the heat,” Vargas said. “Being in full uniform in 90 degrees is not fun at all. We've done that in the spring, and it's definitely trying.”
Senior Nathalia Santacruz called the trip "an unimaginable privilege," one that was set in motion when she began playing the flute in third grade. She has continued through to her senior year, playing in her share of parades, for different audiences.
"Playing in the Ossining Memorial Day Parade, our focus is honoring all veterans, but specifically acknowledging the ones present in our community. Playing at the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in New York City, we are playing for thousands of individuals and celebrating Irish culture," she said.
"Nothing measures up to playing at the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade in Hawaii since we are using our music nationwide to recall this historic occasion, the veterans, and those who have fallen," Santacruz said.
Pearl Harbor trip a window into history
There are songs to learn, and some history. Ossining students study World War II in eighth grade and again as juniors. But this trip will change their perspective on a world-changing event, give them a personal window, a chance to stand where history happened.
That’s where Ossining art teacher Ron Whitehead comes in. The Iraq War veteran will be speaking to the band members this fall, to flesh out part of that history and to cover the etiquette and protocol surrounding a visit to Pearl Harbor.
Yes, there will be fun, but the place is hallowed for the sacrifice of the 2,403 people who died and more than 1,000 who were injured in the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base. Whitehead, as a veteran, said he’ll explain to the students why he’ll salute as “Taps” is played and how they can show their respect at Pearl Harbor.
“I'm excited to share some of the things that I know as a veteran and things that I take serious and that I know about, deeply rooted in my soul,” Whitehead said. “It's going to be a great learning opportunity for everyone.”
Why Ossining?
Mathews said Ossining’s music program has proved itself worthy.
“For the 18th time, Ossining has been named a Best Community for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation. Our marching band has marched in the St. Patrick's Day parade for many, many years. Our orchestras and our bands have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall. We've participated in Music in the Parks (band festivals at theme parks), winning all sorts of awards. I think all those things together combined to put us in a category that was a part of the groups that would be asked to participate.”
Clarinet player Catherine Bates, a junior, said she’s looking forward to “being in an environment with so many people from all around the country coming together and doing what you love.”
Part of the Dec. 7 event is the opening ceremony, during which all the bands — nearly two dozen from across the U.S. — play as one, alongside the Marine Forces Pacific Band.
It is the nation's largest and most significant Pearl Harbor anniversary commemoration.
Said Whitehead: “Pearl Harbor matters because it was an attack on our soil, that Americans died and in combat. People say that the military, time in the Army, doesn't correlate with civilian life, but it absolutely does, because it's about loving and caring and wanting the best for others."
He said today’s students are drawn “to things they grab hold of, to causes.” He said he likes the thought of the memory of Pearl Harbor becoming one of those causes.
Peter D. Kramer is a 36-year staffer who writes long-form narratives on a variety of topics. He has written recently about an Orange County cold-case murder, about affordability and development, and breaking news. His story looking back on the Oak Street fire in Yonkers won a national Headliner Award for outstanding news specials/feature column. Reach him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ossining HS band to represent New York at Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade
