Youth Orchestra Program Hits High Note With Bristol Twp. Students

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP, PA — Middle school band students in the Bristol Township School District have found a sense of community where they developed their love of music in the Students in Concert (SIC) program.

The Youth Orchestra of Bucks County contacted the district about SIC in 2011. The program launched a year later in 2012 and has been an impactful resource for music education ever since, officials said.

“It provides students with a community where there are skilled teachers to help students musically, and it’s also a safe place where kids feel seen and understood,” said Erica Stockton, YOBC executive director. “It’s a place for them to meet students who are like-minded and have similar interests, and they’re moving towards shared goals. That’s a really beautiful thing and is important to us at YOBC.”

Ben Franklin and Neil A. Armstrong students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, who are
already in band, can apply to the program. Typically, it’s around 40 students, but this year, the
number more than doubled to around 90.

“SIC gives students the skills they need to be on an even playing field with other districts and
keep our music program at a top level,” said Chris Gerhart, SIC administrator and music
coordinator for the district.

Top Billing

Many students involved in SIC audition for the Bucks County Music Educators Association All-
County Festival.

“We had 11 kids make it to All County last year, and a lot of them were high chairs: first, second, and third,” Gerhart said.

Although BTSD has a fully funded, fully staffed music program, many other middle schools
provide band lessons during the day, and very few students in the district seek out private
lessons on their own. SIC fills this void.

The program runs for about 15 weeks from mid-October to the beginning of March. Students practice on Monday nights at Franklin, and each student receives a small-group lesson.

“It’s also fun! I think we forget to say that sometimes,” Stockton said. “Students spend Monday
nights learning tunes with their peers and getting better on their instruments.”

Music To Their Ears

Jacob Geist, a Harry S Truman High School senior, was involved in SIC in middle school and
is currently volunteering with the program to give back to his community.

“I believe one of the most beautiful things that might be overlooked is the community that is born
from SIC,” said Geist. “Not only did I meet a variety of people, ranging from my now close
friends to my girlfriend, but I was also provided a space in which my skills as a musician were
pushed to the limits and ultimately refined.”

As a trombone player and section leader of low brass, Geist is currently involved in concert
band, marching band, jazz band and the holiday ensemble at Truman.

“If it weren’t for SIC, I would have likely never stuck with marching band past eighth grade, as I would not have had a space to grow my skills,” Geist said. “But since I was in SIC, I stayed with the marching band and would later get involved with the other three bands, all of which were hotspots for meeting a ton of great new people that I can, for the most part, now call friends.”

Show of Support

“Sixth, seventh and eighth grade is such an exciting entry point to really help families start to
understand the impact that consistent music education can have,” Stockton said. “We love
SIC, and the reason we support it year after year is to make sure that kids all over the county
have access to music.”

YOBC completely funds the program, providing about $15,000 a year to the district through a
combination of grant funding, private donations and community partnerships.

“We fundraise specifically for SIC and find that it’s a story that resonates with a lot of people; the
idea of being able to expand access and affordability,” Stockton said. “The YOBC Board also
makes a commitment every year that we will run this program, so if there are any gaps in
funding, we fill in the gaps with our operational budget.”

Sense of Belonging

The money funds the SIC staff, which is currently a mix of district personnel and area music
professionals, as well as music scores and fees for the guest conductor each spring.

This will be Quincy Hilliard’s third time as the guest conductor. He is currently a composer in residence and is the Heymann Endowed professor of music at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

Hilliard will rehearse with the students the day before and day of the concert. The guest conductor typically chooses the music for the festival, and a number of them are composers and bring their own pieces. Notably, in 2024, Dr. Scott Watson composed a new arrangement of “Amazing Grace” that debuted during the festival.

“To have this experience, and have that sense of belonging paired with musical training is a
really cool thing,” Stockton said.

SIC will perform its holiday recital on Dec. 22 and the festival concert on March 17.

To learn more about YOBC and its programs, visit yobc.org.

(Bristol Township School District)