As the new school year begins, some may notice some changes, for instance, the well known band room has found a new home. One may know room 120 as the former Choir room however, towards the end of the 2022-2023 school year, the decision to swap the rooms was made to resolve conflicts.
The band room had its quirks, from the tiers in which I tripped on everyday, the closet doors that were locked when students showed up for class, and mixing up music in the red folders. Yet, these quirks are what made an ordinary room so special as the band room.
The arrangement has been this way for many years so why change it now? The old room showed a better room set up using the different layers of the room rather than one flat surface. It also gave an exceptional amount of storage space for instruments, and a practice room for a quieter space to work.
There might be negatives but there are definitely positives for each of the ensembles. Wind Ensemble Director Mr. Brandofino states, “The answer was clear as day for us. For the Band, 120 provides a flat surface with walls that are more similar to those of the stage. Room 104 provides risers for our choirs, which is how they perform along with sound absorbing material on the walls that mimic the curtain on our stage.” There are also benefits to other groups as well. “Miss Dimitrious now has much more easy access to the stage during theater productions like our Fall play and Spring musical,” said Brandofino.
Aside from the points of the teachers, students also had to make adjustments for an easy flow. Senior Fadiah Munschi comments, “The switch was easy to adjust to but it was a little jarring since we’d been in the old room for a while.” The new room provides a bigger space and allowance for anything needed as resources.
On the other hand, when walking into the chorus room it is obvious that the chairs are set up to highlight the different vocal ranges. The band room displays a different feel in the transfer from the room to the stage. Its new home allows the band classes to get more of a feel for what it is going to sound like in performance.
Overall, there were many different viewpoints on the topic but in the end, the change was only to better the success for both the band and the chorus students.
