Sunday, August 28, 2005 EDUCATION THE POST PAGE3 A Lake-Lehman band front member practices her routine. At left, Sarah Kidd watches conductor Chelsey Sprau during practice. Adam Patla and his fellow Lake-Lehman marching band member wait for their cue to begin marching. Strike up the By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor Editor's note: A photo package of the Dallas marching band will appear in next week's edition of The Post. rowing up next door to one of the north- east’s most success- ful music programs, Greg Reilly knew all about the tradition at Lake-Leh- man. So when the window of oppor- tunity opened for him to take over the program, Reilly eagerly climbed through it. “Lake-Lehman has the best band program around,” said the 1996 Dallas High School gradu- ate, who took over at Lake-Leh- man last year after spending five years at Wyoming Area. “I've al- ways respected the program here. And I've learned that you never pass by an open window.” The Lake-Lehman band has won more than 2,500 trophies during its history and has won more titles at the prestigious At- lantic Coast Championships than any other band. The ACC is the largest band championship in the United States. The Lake-Lehman marching band is preparing for the upcom- ing competition and football sea- sons. With 35 playing members and 18 members of the band front, the band increased by ap- proximately 18 members from last year. While some high school marching bands walk a fine line between being an entertaining band at football games and being a serious competition band, there’s no doubt which comes first at Lake-LLehman, says Reilly. | “It’s a different story at Leh- man,” he said. “We might miss some games because of our show schedule, but we've never had anyone complain. When halftime rolls around, we use that as dress rehearsal for our show.” This year’s show “Gypsy Cara- van” is based on Hungarian Rhap- sody No. 2 and The Hungarian Polka. The show’s visual coordi- nator is John Taggart and the per- cussion arranger is Dave Gambal. . The conductor is senior Chelsey Sprau. There are 98 pages of drill for the band members to learn and the music is grade 4-5. The music is graded on a 1-5 scale, with five being the most difficult. “When you come out of the Lake-Lehman band program, you can play,” Reilly said. “We use it as teaching tool. We sent 13 kids to district band last year. Part of that (success) is based on the hard work we do on the field.” The band director is hopes Lake-Lehman can repeat last year’s feat of qualifying for the Chapter 7 Championships and the ACC. Last year, Lake-Lehman captured third place in Group I at the ACC. “We're trying to keep the tradi- tion alive,” Reilly said. PHOTOS FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK band From left, Jake Baker, Wally Simko and Ja- cob Sedorchak keep an eye on conductor Chel- sey Sprau. Curtis Schard- ing-Taras plays the French horn at Lake-Lehman. Joe Dixon plays the bass drum for the Lake-Lehman march- ing band.
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