BAND WEBSITE WINS HIGHEST AWARD
The 27th Annual NYSPRA New York State School Public Relations Association
Communication Contest awards have been announced and the band web site won
the highest award in its category - EXCELLENCE.

In addition the district web site also won an award of EXCELLENCE, the
budget newsletter won 2nd place (HONOR) in its category and the district
calendar won third place (MERIT) in its category.

Congratulations!


Directions to Copiague Tournament of Bands
Directions to Copiague High School



From the North and West and NJ and New England and Upstate

I 95 to the Throg’s Neck Bridge to the Long Island Expressway
Long Island Expressway/ I 495 East to exit 49 South NY Rte 110
Go South about five miles
Pass SUNY Farmingdale
Pass Republic Airport
Cross over NY Rte 109
Cross over Southern State Parkway
Cross over NY 27/ Sunrise Highway

At the first light turn left onto Dixon Avenue
(Brunswick Hospital on the right)

At the fourth traffic light turn left into Copiague High School

From the South

Verrazano Bridge to the Belt Parkway East
Pass JFK airport to the Southern State Parkway
Southern State Parkway until exit 32 S NY Rte 110 South (about ½ hour)

Exit; follow Rte 110 South over Sunrise Highway
At the first light turn left onto Dixon Avenue

At the fourth traffic light turn left into Copiague High School



From the East

Sunrise Highway West to Lindenhurst
Go under the Wellwood Avenue Bridge

At the first light turn left onto Straight Path (Hess gas station)
At the second light turn right into Copiague High School

School address: 1100 Dixon Avenue, Copiague NY


Physical Conditioning for Marching Band
(reprinted from the Cavaliers Website)




An Ounce of Prevention
Sunday, June 12th, 2005 - 8:49 PM

The start of a drum corps season always can bring a shock to the system, from new surroundings, to new people, changes in eating and sleeping habits and especially with the physical demands placed on the corps member … That is, if you’re not prepared.

Importantly, The Cavaliers have devoted a good portion of the off-season to getting into shape. This work, however, is more than the standard recipe of running a mile before a few sit-ups and multitudes of pushups.

“In the late 80s and early 90s our visual program's complexity increased dramatically. Not only were we moving the corps around the field at a higher rate of speed, touching 200 plus beats per minute, we also were changing direction a lot more as our phrase lengths were significantly shorter,” said Cavaliers Corps Director Jeff Fiedler. “Those were the things—as well as the amount of time we were spending rehearsing, which increased the repetitions—and really started to impact the corps member's bodies, especially in the early part of the summer.”

This noticeable increase in physical demand is what prompted Fiedler to call on Randy Bichler, a noted Chicago physical trainer, to work with the corps in the off-season.

In a day and age when the drum corps activity is working to strike an identity somewhere between an artistic and an athletic competition, Bichler has emerged as an incredible asset to The Cavaliers. In addition to experience marching with several drum corps in his youth, he holds a degree in musical theatre performance and has 13 years professional acting experience including runs with “Cats” and “Evita” on Broadway. After also becoming involved with the fitness industry, Bichler became certified through the American Consul on Exercise and the College of Sports Medicine. He now runs fitness programs for the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, is an international Pilates trainer, presenter and educator for EFI sports medicine, and also works in conjunction with Crunch Fitness and Equinox Fitness.

“I’ve seen it [drum corps] progress through the years to where it has become much more of an athletic activity,” said Bichler. “I thought at that point there was something I could bring to it—with the way my career had progressed and my background—that I thought was important but also currently missing.”

Bichler sees this missing portion as an off-season training program similar to what an athlete would engage in while preparing for a competitive season. While brass and percussionists have traditionally been required to practice their musical technique and parts throughout the winter, Bichler noticed that little was being done in preparation on the physical end. With the term “musician-athletes” now widely used throughout the drum corps activity, Bichler’s view has prevailed.

“If nothing is set up through the winter months and then everybody is thrown out on the field for the summer, they won’t be ready for it,” Bichler said. “That’s what we started to work toward last year and what I’m really working to stress this year.”

His program is centered on Pilates, a strength training workout that has gained popularity in the last few years in celebrity circles but has roots extending as far back as WWI. Joseph Pilates, a WWI prisoner used his background in martial arts, gymnastics, strength and physical training to develop a series of exercises for injured prisoners that focused on core strength and stability. After fleeing Nazi Germany after the war, he moved to New York where he further developed his craft and worked with many well-known dancers including Martha Graham.

“The core, the torso of the body is everything from the entire shoulder girdle through the entire mid-back and pelvic region. All of that has to be strong in order for the rest of the body to be as well. The breathing required for horn players as well as having a strong back and the abdominals to hold the instrument up in the correct posture is so important and why I think Pilates is important for them to learn,” Bichler said.

Another major portion of Bichler’s training sessions focuses on interval training. “High intensity and low intensity is really how the show is built. The members have to be able to kick it in and all of a sudden pull back with a lot of control. That is the basis for this type of training,” he said.

Members are taught that the physical training they do at winter rehearsal camps needs to continue after they head back to school. Many members who attend the same universities even often get together between camps to practice the exercises. “I’m here to help guide them to figure out what will work for them, but they need to develop their own program and be working on it when they are away from here,” Bichler said.

“Going through these workouts in- and off-season is difficult as you really feel the burn and get sore, but it becomes easier with every application knowing that I’m making both myself and the corps stronger,” said Andy Giltner, a third-year member of the brass section.

“A lot of the things we do in the show in marching and movement require a lot of unnatural positions as used in everyday life” said Chris Alexander, a four-year member of the brass section. “Randy’s workouts specifically target those muscle groups in an effort for us to avoid injury.”

Fiedler noted that as a result of Bichler’s workouts, in addition to the drive and tenacity of the marching members, this year’s corps may be the healthiest and most physically fit he has seen. And in addition to the members, The Cavaliers staff also has noticed the importance and benefits of these formalized workout sessions.

"Randy's fitness program for The Cavaliers brass section is always parallel to the physical, mental and musical demands placed on the membership by each year's program,” said David Bertman, Cavaliers brass caption head and a director of bands at the University of Houston. “Many people tend to forget the natural physical nature of playing and marching with an instrument. Randy has come in and shown each student how to adapt and develop the needed strength for their instrument, without creating unnecessary tension and stress, which would interfere with their brass performance."

As strange to outsiders as mixing brass, drums and body movement with the likes of football, track and field and aerobics may seem, Bichler who has been on both ends of the spectrum, can completely appreciate it.

“It’s a very unique activity and that’s why I am still very interested in it. I show the DVDs to my friends both in theater—they’re awed by it—and in fitness—they’re amazed by it. So I think there is a real bridge between that and the activity. It’s its unique own thing and I definitely think more people should see it and become aware of it.”


Memories From the Beginning
I stumbled across the Copiague High School Band web site the other day and thought to myself, my how things have changed. When I was a freshman in 1984 the only thing that Band meant to me was an easy grade. Our teacher was more concerned about fitting in with the students than fitting the students into his program. Let’s face it Band was for losers. At that time school spirit was low. Our sports teams were terrible and Copiague had nothing to cheer about. Then in my sophomore year along came Mr. Wevers. He had fresh ideas and envisioned a program that seemed more like a dream than anything else. I still remember our 1st Band Camp, I said to myself who is going to give up the last two weeks of their summer vacation for this. Some how I made it to the camp, although I can’t say I took it serious. During my freshman year marching band consisted of a homecoming show and a Memorial Day parade that 2/3 of the band would actually show up for. How dare Mr. Wevers take away the free ride and actually expect us to work for a grade. I thought the five songs we performed every year should suffice. Mr. Wevers talked about programs he had set up in New Jersey and the successes of his former students and all I could think about was how he was in for a rude awaking. This is Copiague, after all. I really can’t remember how or why but our band started to listen and believe in Mr. Wevers. Maybe it was the field trip to the drum and bugle corps show that did it for me. I really can’t explain it; Mand started to become cool.

Marching band season started out and then ended as expected. We finished last in every competition.

My junior year was the best year. I feel that during that year Mr. Wevers had created an atmosphere of excitement for the band. We wanted to participate in camp, let’s face it we wanted to win. If I’m not mistaken our performance was based on a tribute to America. The show was well choreographed and fun for everyone. Then a funny thing happened………we one our 1st competition and not only were we proud, but teachers and fellow students were congratulating us on our success. In fact it was probably our third competition that I seem to remember other schools trash talking us as we waited to perform. I remember thinking to myself that they were actually afraid of us. We made a lot of people take notice of Copiague in a relatively short time. Now don’t get the wrong idea, we didn’t change the image of the Band overnight, we just created a buzz and gave both the teachers and student body something they could be proud of when there really wasn’t much to cheer about.

My senior year was a bit of a let down as we lost our competitions by ever so slight margins. In retrospect it was all good. As I look over how this program has grown and all of the accomplishments Mr. Wevers and his students have made in the last 18 years since I have been gone, I can only wonder if that small group of 29 students actually inspired other students to not only join Band, but strive to succeed where we left off. Keep up the good work Copiague. I know I’m proud of you.

John Anello
Class of 1987
janello@tampabay.rr.com