By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – With the start of the 2010 school year right around the corner, administrators at St. Charles Catholic High School in LaPlace said they are orchestrating a return of the school’s band program following a more than 25-year absence.

Under the direction of new musical director Jeremy Williams, the school will begin student interest meetings next month with the intent of starting regular classes in the fall semester, said SCC Development Director Marie Dupont.

“Over the summer we started calling students who have experience with instruments in an effort to gauge interest,” Dupont said. “We will hold our first booster meeting Aug. 10, where we will introduce Mr. Williams and discuss plans for the year. Anyone interested in joining is welcome to come out.”

Dupont said Williams comes to SCC after serving as band director at N.P. Trist Middle School in Meraux. He is a graduate of the University of New Orleans with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education. In his new position at SCC, Williams will teach band I, fine arts survey and world geography.

“Jeremy has proven his ability to institute a band and make it successful,” St. Charles Catholic High School Principal Andrew Cupit said in a statement. “We recognized the need to continue with our already outstanding fine arts program, and in order to fit the needs of our prospective students and their parents, a band program was the most logical and inventive way to continue our upward spiral to be the best in the River Parishes.”

Dupont said the band will be built around the school’s drum corps, a longstanding tradition at football games and other school events. She said with the help of a grant from the River Region Arts and Humanities Council, SCC enlisted the help of drum teacher Calvin Berry III of The Master’s Touch Drumline LLC.

“Calvin worked intensively with our drum corps creating several new cadences and improving the overall sound of existing cadences that are regularly played at the football games,” Dupont said. “We have begun to seek further grants for the purchase of instruments and other needs.”

Williams said he is excited about the challenge of resurrecting the band and is looking forward to the work ahead in the coming weeks and months.

“We are already moving in the right direction by simply reinstating the program into the school,” Williams said. “I can tell that the program has a lot of potential already, even in these early stages. One of the most important aspects of a strong program is to have a strong support staff, and I am excited that there is a good, honest, genuine support staff already in place.”

Williams said he plans to explore the universal language of music with his students, expounding on the different musical styles of the various cultures that are represented not only in Louisiana but also throughout the world. Williams said he is hopeful that the students can go from a concert band, to a marching band, to a jazz band with ease.

“We will focus on making ‘good music,’ meaning we will produce good, solid, strong performances no matter what the music is that we perform,” he said. “Creating a program is such a great thing because it brings new life to a community and allows you to open up a whole new life to so many people, a life of music. Music is the perfect outlet to allow a student to become connected with so many things in not only his own life, but in others.”

For more information about the band program, contact Williams at scccometband@yahoo.com.