With safety in mind, schools are getting their bands back together

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Wellesley high schooler Andrew Song plays baritone sax in the jazz band.





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Heather Cote, K-12 Director of Performing Arts at Westwood Public Schools, directs the high school wind ensemble.





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Music News
In New Orleans, Music Education Programs Cautiously Fall Back In Step

More than a hundred performing arts organizations around the country raised funds for a groundbreaking study after a choir in Washington state became one of the first known COVID-19 superspreader events in the country.

«When we looked at that incident, we’re like, ‘Yep, this is going to be detrimental to all things performing arts if we don’t figure out how to do this,» says Dr. James Weaver of the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Weaver and Dr. Mark Spede of the College Band Directors National Association teamed up to support research looking at how to prevent the spread of the virus in performing arts settings, delving into the problem as early as April and May 2020.





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Westwood High School trumpet player James Beggan.





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Wellesley High School choral director Kevin McDonald instructs the school’s Keynote Singers.





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Wellesley High School choral director Kevin McDonald instructs the school’s Keynote Singers.


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Down the hall, about 40 masked members of Wellesley High’s «Keynote Singers» are back together, too, rehearsing a James Taylor song called That Lonesome Road.

«For all of us, this is our community. This is where we find joy in our day to day. It’s a break from the schoolwork,» says senior Nora Jarquin. «All my friends are in these choirs and in these groups. So to lose that was a really hard time. We don’t want to do that again.»

They’re all hoping, with these new protective measures, that they won’t have to.