MONTAGUE — Emma Pendell has many different interests and she’s a very busy person.
Athletically, the Montague senior competes with the school’s wrestling, cross country, and track teams. Scholastically, she serves as an officer with National Honor Society, FFA, and with the Class of 2024. In what little free time Pendell has, she takes photos for CatchMark SportsNet as a “SportsNut.”
Then, of course, she’s a “bando.” Those involved with Montague Bands know exactly what that means.
“Being a bando means world domination,” Pendell said. “From the start, that is what we are taught. We’re going to dominate the world together by making our music. It’s something that no one else at Montague can have. It is our own community and goal.”
Montague “bandos” wear their label like a badge of honor. Currently, 60 students are enrolled in the Montague High School band program.
Emma Greenwood is in her 19th year as director of bands at Montague. She is known as a passionate and thoughtful leader and educator.
Greenwood said that her middle school and high school band teachers in her native Minnesota were really passionate and loved what they did, so it was infectious. In much the same way, Greenwood is passing it forward.
“It’s just an honor and pleasure to be able to do what we do, year after year, with a group of young adults who are so committed to our program,” Greenwood said. “Even on the hard days, we are in this together to become better and successful musicians, friends, schoolmates, family members, and to enjoy the process of it all.”
The “family” part of her statement is worth noting.
The bandos are like a family. Sure, they can razz each other, but once an outsider crosses the line, then they become a protective group.
“It always annoys me when other students would pick on and tease band kids for being in band and call them ‘band nerds,’” Greenwood said. “So, I decided right away when they start in sixth grade to name them ‘bandos’ and then let them know that if they’re being picked on, to just ignore the name calling, because everyone doesn’t have the dedication or desire to play an instrument.
“With their own special name, it makes them feel more special. (It’s) absolutely a badge of honor. It takes a lot of commitment and dedication to be good at playing an instrument.”
Pendell is one who has exhibited such commitment and dedication. This is in her seventh year as a bando. She plays clarinet in concert band and tuba in marching band. She participates in every part of the band as long as she’s able.
Greenwood noted that all after-school bands are part of the daily concert band. In the fall, all band members are in marching band. In the winter, all band members are part of pep band. A small group of students have started an after-school jazz group consisting of current band members.
What inspires Greenwood to keep going is the commitment and buy-in of the band members to the overall quality and success of the program.
Each year is different, she said. What motivates one group or class one year isn’t necessarily what motivates the next group or class. Each group has its own distinct personality.
Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
“One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is that if they continue with band throughout their whole high school career, that I will get to spend seven years with them,” Greenwood said. “They absolutely become family to me and I care who they become as young adults, not just as members of the band.”
Another reward for Greenwood – and this applies to her bandos — is the opportunity to make music. That is not exclusive to performing at football or basketball games.
The bandos create “art through sound,” in Greenwood’s words, and they do it collectively. It’s not simply a case of Greenwood telling them what to do or to play.
“When you have success in music, you know,” Pendell said. “It’s an understanding that you get as a whole band and that feeling of accomplishment as a community is such an amazing feeling.
“I was hooked by the beauty of the opportunity that I get to create every day first thing in the morning,” Pendell said about having band first hour. “It’s not always easy, but in the end it’s all worthwhile.”
Montague senior Richie Kroll plays baritone saxophone in marching band, bass clarinet in concert band, and clarinet in pep band. He joined Montague bands as a sixth-grade clarinetist.
Kroll said he became enamored with how the parts of various instruments from flutes to tubas blended together. His growing fascination festered into a passion for music that has kept him in band as well as a number of other music groups.
For Kroll, music is an outlet to express human emotions, “from longing to capitulation.” He appreciates that fact that Montague Bands is open to people from all walks of life.
“The Montague band is a group with an immense diversity of personalities and interests, some people being completely unlike others,” said the articulate Kroll, who has served as treasurer and president for Montague’s Gay-Straight Alliance. “There is the natural internal strife and interpersonal bickering as well as the natural and appropriate tensions that accompany any congregation of teenagers; it is a human group.
“However, we are all united in the devotion and dedication requisite to create the music and expression that we are ultimately there to perform, and that unity has come to bring me more incredible friendships than any enemy.”
Montague’s bandos are thrilled to perform. Anytime there is an audience, it’s a “big” performance, according to Greenwood. It’s like taking a test in public, she said.
However, the bandos might say that the “Glow Show” at Montague each fall is their favorite performance.
The student leaders of Montague’s marching band are the drum majors: Senior Aurelia Ambriz and junior Aiden Kutches. Greenwood said that Ambriz and Kutches are doing a really good job in their roles, that they’re both passionate about Montague’s band program and doing what they can to help the group succeed.
Collectively, that seems to be the spirit of Montague bands.
“Our band is something special. We have built a strong-knit community,” Pendell said. “But it’s more than that. It’s a family. We support each other and build each other up. And, like a family, we go through ups and downs, but in the end we’re there for each other. And that’s what counts.”
Photos courtesy of Montague bands
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