Chance Caprarola, a junior at Winters Mill High School, was one of fewer than 100 students selected for this year’s Honor Band of America. Though their participation was cut short by the current coronavirus crisis, he was motivated by the rehearsal and is “working harder now than ever" on his music.
He started playing music in elementary school when he got a drum set for Christmas. As a percussionist, he’s branched out to, among others, snare, timpani, and his favorite, marimba.
Caprarola was selected to represent Maryland among members from 26 states, representing 77 high schools. Music for All’s Honor Band of America is recognized as one of the finest scholastic ensembles in the country, according to a news release from the school system.
He applied and auditioned for the Honor Band after a friend participated the year before. The process began in August and he learned that he’d been accepted in December, the day before his birthday.
“When I found out I got in, I was just ecstatic,” he said. Caprarola was selected from a pool of hundreds.
Kristen Gottleib, his band director at Winters Mill, said: “He absolutely was self-motivated to do that.” Through she said she couldn’t take much credit for his talent and hard work, she was proud of him.
Over the summer, he asked her for permission to practice for his auditions using the school’s facilities, particularly, the timpani, a very large variety of drum.
In ensembles, he is a role model for other students, and “is headed for a bright future,” she said.
The original schedule had the band rehearsing and performing as part of the Music for All National Festival from March 11-14 in Indianapolis, Indiana, leading up to a concert on March 14.
When rehearsals began on March 11, Caprarola knew he was at a whole different level of professionalism given that even the rehearsals required a business casual dress code.
In the group of musicians, he thought, “I knew it was going to be great because there were just — it was absolutely incredible, the sounds ... I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”
Col. Timothy J. Holtan, a Marylander himself, was selected to conduct the ensemble this year, and was already familiar with Caprarola from All-State band and other ensembles.
On March 12, some of the side activities of the festival began to be canceled as the seriousness of the crisis was becoming apparent across the country. So the band practiced together for about 9 1/2 hours. Holtan learned in the final hours of rehearsal that day that the concert would be canceled.
They began to play through the concert material, which included the world premiere of two pieces by composers Julie Giroux and Timothy Mahr. A helper recorded the quasi-performance.
“Those kids achieved musicality on Thursday night [March 12] that some previous ensembles barely reached by concert time,” Holtan said. “There was some pretty miraculous music made.”
Caprarola took a positive attitude toward the cancellation of Honor Band and was grateful that he got to experience some, if not all, of the festival.
Since schools closed statewide beginning March 16, he said he has been “keeping my chops up,” working on the instruments he has at home, including a beloved marimba.
A lot of what he knows is self-taught through Youtube videos and he’s continued to push to learn new things in the time off.
“The biggest thing I got out of it was inspiration,” he said. “I’m working harder now than I’ve ever worked really. I know now I want to do this for a living.”