Longmont High band will celebrate 100 years with December concert

Nov. 13—Longmont High Band Director David Merrill looked through the school's old yearbooks to learn more about the band's history after he was hired about 22 years ago.

The first mention he found was in 1922, and he made a note to mark the band's 100th birthday this year.

"It's one of the oldest programs in the region," he said. "You really feel like we're part of something that has been very important to the community for a long time."

To celebrate all that history, the band is planning a concert on Dec. 14, inviting alumni and former staff members to play with the band or share stories. To participate, go to https://forms.gle/fTzoHnTVnra4zjSg9.

Merrill, with help from parents, is collecting band photos and newspaper articles from years past for a display for the concert. Longmont High opened in 1901, and it appears students started the band in 1922 to play at football games and in parades, he said. The first official band director was hired in 1927, while official uniforms showed up in the late 1920s.

The marching band program expanded to include concert band in the 1930s. In the late 1950s, a social studies teacher started the school's Rhythmaires Jazz Band. Now, the music program includes two jazz bands, an award-winning winter drumline, a steel band and a mariachi band.

The Longmont Trojan Marching band at the 2022 Longmont Veterans Day parade. The band is celebrating 100 years of existence. (Cliff Grassmick ??

"We're offering some alternative instrumental options for kids that diversify our music repertoire in our school," Merrill said.

At least two of the school's previous band directors plan to take part in the anniversary concert.

Sal Martorano, band director from 1986 to 1993, said there were only 48 students enrolled in band when he started, many performed at a remedial level and the variety of instruments played was limited.

"The first two years were extremely difficult," he said.

He said he spent a "tremendous" amount of time at the middle schools and even recruited students for band at the elementary schools. He also brought in clinicians, and along with middle school directors, taught private lessons. When he left Longmont High, about 150 students were enrolled in band.

The students and parents were fantastic to work with, he added.

"The thing I liked best about the job was the quality of musical performance that the band was able to achieve the last few years that I was the director," he said. "We were performing some very challenging musical literature and performing it at an extremely high level. We were receiving standing ovations at every concert and superior ratings at every festival."

The Longmont Trojan Marching band at the 2022 Longmont Veterans Day parade. (Cliff Grassmick ??

Bill Wilkinson, the Longmont High band director from 1993 to 2001, said the work ethic of the band students and support from band parents was what stood out the most from his time leading the program.

"The Longmont High School Band performed at a very high level," he said. "They could 'bring it' every time we performed."

He said highlights included traveling twice to Ireland to march in St. Patrick's Day parades. At the parade in Limerick, Ireland, the band won second place and was invited back to the judges' stand to perform a special concert for the city's mayor, he said.

Several former Longmont High band students went on to become St. Vrain music teachers.

Chad Lemons, Mead Elementary's music teacher, joined the Longmont High band to continue a rewarding middle school band experience. He played trombone, including playing in the school's Rhythmaires Jazz Band, Blue Band and marching band. Freshman year, he traveled with the band to Ireland to march in a St. Patrick's Day parade.

"I have great memories of the band trips, festivals and performances, but it's still the friendships that mean the most to me," he said. "The band was like a family, and I knew the band directors and my bandmates were sources of strength when I needed them."

He said his positive music experiences, along with his music teachers and mentors, led him to study music education and return as a music teacher.

"I hope that I can inspire students to fall in love with music the way my mentors inspired me," he said. "It warms my heart when my former students continue to keep music a big part of their lives."

Another Longmont High band alum now teaching in St. Vrain Valley is Jonah Bartels, the choir and orchestra teacher at Trail Ridge Middle School. He also met his wife, Amber Hodges, in the Longmont High band. Hodges is now a music teacher at Blue Mountain Elementary.

"Band was pretty much everything that I did in high school," said Bartels, a drummer who also plays piano and guitar. "Being in Longmont's band was really beneficial to me. I knew I wanted to teach people how to play music."