New PCHS band director brings his forte to the Pride
August 21, 2024 at 11:41 p.m.
Isaac Schneider often thinks about balance, how to walk the line between tradition and modernization.
And as the new leader guiding the Port Chester High School marching band, an organization deeply rooted in history, it’s an important consideration to have.
“One of my mentors years ago used to have this phrase: ‘tradition in addition to.’ And I really do believe in that,” Schneider reflected. “It’s not my place nor is it my vision to completely change and uproot everything. There’s a reason we have traditions, in an artistic way and a human way, and I think it’s important to pinpoint what needs to stay as tradition and what we can build in addition to.”
That said, he’s already looking toward the additions he’d like to incorporate as he carves out his space in the Pride of Port Chester legacy. And it’s a motive aimed to cherish the performative nature of the art.
Head Drum Major Sofia Coyt, a junior, directs the band during marching technique drills on the football field.By Sarah Wolpoff
The marching band has spent the last two weeks preparing for the 2024-25 year with Band Camp, fueling the flames to bring this season’s competitive show, “Flight of Fire,” to life. It’s a new year, a new routine, and new preparation location. This year, the district was able to coordinate athletic schedules with the band to allow musicians access to the football field for the entire two-week stint—usually, they spend the second half of rehearsals at Crawford Park.
“It really worked out well, we’d like to try to do it again next year,” said Supervisor of Fine and Performing Arts Katherine Sinsabaugh. “This is where they’ll do a lot of performances, and it’s nice to have the indoor space accessible. They can use the cafeteria and the music rooms when it rains, and when it gets hot, they’ll go inside for breaks.”
This year also sees a new face of guidance.
Former high school band director Mike Miceli opted to make a transition this school year, staying in the district but teaching music at the middle school. The vacancy left a door open to Schneider, who talked with enthusiasm about kicking off his first year as high school band director with an inaugural show he described as powerful yet passionate.
From the top of bleachers where he can get the best view, Isaac Schneider, the new high school band director, gives out calls over a microphone for the musicians to reset in new positions.By Sarah Wolpoff
“It’s not a very nice show,” Schneider laughed. “The music we’re playing is quite aggressive and intense.”
“Flight of Fire” features music and genres spanning the ages—touching on modernism with excerpts from “Game of Thrones” while also hitting on classical staples like Wagner’s “The Ride of the Valkyries” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird.”
It’s a little dark and menacing, he said, but he believes students find it engaging.
“This show is very cool, which is contradictory to the fire of it,” laughed junior Sofia Coyt, the head drum major of the Pride of Port Chester this year. “I’ve heard the pieces before, and they’re very moving.”
Coyt hopes to get “oohs and aahs” from the audience when they see the production this fall. “I hope they get this burst of energy and are tremendously shocked when they see the dynamics, when they see our new show with such an impactful (presence),” she said. “And the visuals. Like, we’re going to have props for the first time in a long time, which is exciting.”
Christofer Sandoval, a junior in the pit, adjusts a cymbal attached to his marimba so it’s at a visually appealing and functional position.By Sarah Wolpoff
The visuals are what Schneider is focusing on—his addition to the Pride of Port Chester tradition. Looking at last year’s “New World Symphony” show, he thinks students, in general, are comfortable with their position musically.
“I’m maybe asking them to come out of their comfort zone visually,” he said. “Using different costumes, makeup and props, and even the shapes they’re making on the field.”
“It’s a lot of visual focus right now, from a technique, marching perspective and from the show design,” he later added. “How we’re asking them to move, make designs. They’re going to be doing choreography, even if they don’t know it’s coming yet.”
To Schneider, aesthetics is crucial to the art of storytelling.
Throughout the show, the audience will see props and auxiliary costume attachments as the band paints a picture with changing color themes on the field.
“It starts dark, we’ll have a lot of black at the beginning, and it’ll start to change to white and red throughout the three movements,” Schneider described. “It’s not necessarily that one movement is one color, but you’ll see the transition from darkness to a little bit of angelic light before pushing through to a fiery ending.”
He comes from a place of expertise—marching band has a strong presence in his background.
Born and raised in Chicago, Schneider, 23, moved to New York to attain a degree in music education at Ithaca College. Last year he taught in Yonkers but took the leap to come to Port Chester when the high school band director position opened.
A senior trombonist, Daniel Ebol, gets caught in a yard-long stride during marching technique rehearsal.By Sarah Wolpoff
After all, he was already familiar with the program and the prestige of Port Chester Schools’ musical reputation.
“Port Chester is one of the bigger, more storied bands here. I knew some recent Port Chester alumni from a group I march with professionally,” he said, referring to the Spartans Drum & Bugle Corps, where he is also the tour manager. “We’ve actually had a few Port Chester students who have come and marched with the group, and one current student who has.”
The connections in the professional group led him to help with the Pride of Port Chester last year, when he was hired to teach music and visuals.
He learned quickly of the deep community investment uniquely seen in the school district—the admiration folks have for the marching band. It struck him last year during his first night rehearsal, when he noticed a half dozen parents there just to watch. And they continuously showed up week after week.
He had never seen that before—a support not equally relished in other places.
A color guard rifle flips high in the air as sophomore Joselyn Pallascho braces herself to catch it in the proper position.By Sarah Wolpoff
“To me, it’s like, alright, there’s a really storied, built in sense of tradition and belonging that extends beyond the people on the field but into their families and the larger community. That sense of pride really goes deep,” Schneider said. “It makes a statement that this really matters. It really mattered five years, it really mattered 10 years ago, and it will really matter in five years as well. And we talk about that (with the students), they are part of this long tradition.”
“We talk about how this will be the show this year. This is the band as it exists now in 2024, and this is the only time this band will exist now, doing this show,” he continued. “I think it’s an important conversation, giving them that individual responsibility but also understanding how that fits into this tapestry of the past decades before it.”
He respects the tradition because music has also been a defining trajectory of Schneider’s life, since he first picked up a baritone in the fifth grade (he wanted to play the tuba but was regretfully told he’d have to grow into the instrument first). And over the years, marching band, specifically, is what serenaded to him.
Class of 2019 alum Kevin Pallazhco returns to Band Camp to instruct the pit.By Sarah Wolpoff
“What draws me to it is there’s a lot of things combined that don’t happen in a lot of arts activities,” he said. It’s musical, physical and theatrical all at once. And as someone who was also always drawn to athletics and theater activities, it checked a lot of boxes. “It stands at this junction that not a lot of other things do. You have the music, the visuals, the performance and the teamwork. This is one of the few activities where no one can sit out—if you’re in it, you’re in it. Everyone has a spot, there’s no rotating out A-line and B-line.”
For him, marching band experiences have been instrumental in teaching him about discipline, trust and leadership, which he hopes to impart on his students as well.
Coyt said the benefits of marching band have nurtured a sense of confidence that she’s grateful for. Last year, she was a sideline drum major, and “the stage fright I had was tremendous, but now it’s gone.”
“Just the thought of where I am right now, when I was younger, frightened me so much. Like, what if I mess up, what if I do a wrong cutoff, what if I don’t start on tempo?” she described. “If you were to tell me a year ago that I’d be conducting the whole band, I would have probably cried. But I’ve grown so much. It’s not what I would have expected, I’m having a lot of fun.”
Pride of Port Chester color guard members take out their black wings, a costume accessory, to show off a routine seen early in the “Flight of Fire” show.By Sarah Wolpoff
Schneider is also looking to find his impact in the classroom. Thinking “musically, holistically, about the program in general,” he already has ideas starting to come to fruition about adding new ensemble and extracurricular activities.
He brings an interconnected philosophy to music education, he described. Enriching students in the classroom will not only lead to an amplified performance on the field but give them a well-rounded experience on their journey to becoming stellar musicians.
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