Music can change the world because it can change people.

– Bono, member of the band U2

By Mary O’KEEFE

A Harvard study found that the use of music – listening, singing and music therapy – can create significant improvements in mental health. It can also make improvements in physical health-related quality of life.

Those who love music and all that it brings can enjoy a night of music at the Crescenta Valley High School Instrumental Music (CVIM) Winter Concert 2022 at the CVHS MacDonald Auditorium, 4300-4398 Ramsdell Ave. on Friday, tomorrow, Dec. 9. The concert will include music from all sections of CVIM including the jazz band, drum line, string symphony, wind ensemble and drum line.

The concert begins exactly at 7 p.m.

“I want to respect the audience’s time,” said CVIM music director Mat Schick regarding the preciseness of the start time.

So if people arrive late and music is being performed they will be asked to wait in the lobby until that piece of music ends then will be seated. This is not only to respect the audience’s time but also to show respect for the student musicians. Respect is the foundation of the CVIM Dept. and how Schick inspires students.

“I have always been a big proponent in student leadership,” he said.

Schick leads a music program that includes 250 students and student leaders help support all students.

“We have a huge leadership program,” he said. “If students want to be an officer in the marching band [for example] they can join a leadership workshop.”

Schick and officers have created an outline on leadership qualities and another outlines how the officers want to move the program forward.

Any student, and parent, who has been part of CVIM knows the amount of time and dedication it takes to be part of this program. Students rehearse and prepare for performances while continuing their regular school studies. That is why Schick prioritizes student camaraderie.

CVIM has a lot of team-building exercises including a trip to the mountain town Blue Jay where leaders work together to build their sections.

“We want kids not to dread coming to [rehearsal/practice],” he said. “Our big thing is to understand we are in this together.”

Friendships form among members of the band; some go to each other’s homes, have meals together and work together. They have team-building events like pancake parties.

“What makes me happy is to see that they enjoy being together,” he said.

And because of that dedication Schick has been receiving quite a few awards this year including most recently the Glendale Unified Teacher of the Year and Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year. This is in addition to an Honorary Service Award he received earlier in the year from Glendale Council PTA.

The awards and recognition have been coming in this year so often that Schick has been asked if he was retiring. He is not. He is CVIM director and loves his job, and his students.

Schick said he had some tough times growing up but his mother taught him independence and confidence. During his Teacher of the Year acceptance speech at a Glendale Education Foundation State of the Schools, he said the band was where he found “his space.” He thanked his wife and family, and his mom.

“She was a single mom who raised me by herself. She taught me that a stuttering, flute-playing boy had value and that not only girls played the flute and [it was not true that only] stupid people stutter,” he said at the time.

That confidence and place of home he felt through joining the music department is what he wants his students to feel during their time at CVIM. He now has two sons at CVHS and in the music department so he understands the balance that kids need between music and school work and is sensitive to how COVID has affected the way students approach school.

“There is a definite COVID hangover,” he said.

That is another reason it is important for all the musicians in the program to feel they have a place that is safe and where they belong.

“This doesn’t feel like a job to me,” he said. “I get to come to a place where I get to work with kids, they get to play music, I get to play music and I feel very fortunate.”

Tickets for the Winter Concert are available at the door and are $10. The funds raised are dedicated for CVIM and will pay for uniforms and travel expenses and toward their upcoming trip to New York where they will play at Carnegie Hall (more on that in future articles).

For those who cannot make the concert but would still like to support CVIM they can do so by emailing Melissa Stephen at president@falconmusic.org or mailing a check to the school at CVHS, 2900 Community Ave., La Crescenta, California 91214.