Band Director’s last NRHS concert a celebration

Published in the June 28, 2018 edition

By MICHAEL GEOFFRION SCANNELL

NORTH READING — The recent North Reading High School spring concert at the Performing Arts Center was a memorable one for all involved.

Retiring Director of Bands Eric Forman got a huge ovation when he took the stage to direct the Jazz Band, after the choral performances conducted by his counterpart, Choral Director Allison Kane. He then conducted three numbers with the Concert Band but it was during the student awards presentations that the fun and surprises began.

First, students were presented with their awards. Forman presented band letters to seven students with three years of tenure: Matthew Farro, Gretchen LaPorte, Christina Lasdin, Jessica Palazzolo, Ben Tenney, Laura Wagner and Madden Warren.

Kane then presented three students, Anthony Casino, Trevor Wilson and Trish Garza, with their chorus letters for three years of involvement.

Then the coveted Senior Awards were presented to the top jazz, concert band and choral students. These are the highest honors band and choral students can achieve. Forman presented the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award to Abigail Moline and the John Philip Sousa Band Award to Emily Nearing.

Sarah Bustin was awarded The National School Choral Award, the highest honor for high school choral performers, in recognition of the dedication and musical achievement of the top male and female choral students.

While Forman and Kane were on stage, North Reading Music Boosters President Heidi Hastings presented Forman with flowers and a gift. Then the seven graduating senior band members, Allison Hastings, Abby Moline, Emily Nearing, Michelle Shang, Iris Chen, Kayla Spellenberg and Hugo Wiberg IV, took the stage with each offering witty remarks and memories shared over the years with Forman. When they handed Forman his gift inside a white gift bag with the word “GRAD” boldly printed in large black letters that the audience could clearly read, Mr. Forman quipped, “I’m finally graduating!” Everyone laughed.

But they weren’t done yet.

Forman’s choice to close out the evening was composer Michael Kamen’s “American Symphony,” which was performed in the film “Mr. Holland’s Opus.” Prior to this final performance, as Mrs. Kane began a heartfelt speech highlighting Forman’s career, a commotion began behind them.

The audience could see Forman’s genuine surprise at what was taking place.

Forman later recalled, “I wasn’t supposed to see what was going on behind me. Allison kept trying to move me forward but I’m sensitive to sounds and I started hearing sounds behind me that weren’t supposed to be there.”

As he turned and looked around, he saw students and staff who had been waiting patiently in the wings bringing out extra chairs and music stands.

They were followed by more than two dozen guest players taking the stage. These alumni band members included former students, members of Forman’s various pit orchestras over the years, and many of his fellow North Reading music educators.

When he got up on the riser to conduct he said something about them not having rehearsed. What Forman didn’t know was that they had rehearsed with him in a sense.

Mrs. Kane explained, “This started a year ago when I had the idea to surprise Eric during his last concert. I reached out to Kiara Zani, 2010 graduate and asked for social media help. Over the next year, we created connections of friends and alumni for this last concert. We called it ‘Pack the PAC’ for Mr. Forman.”

As Forman found out later, “Some of my current band students had recorded a rehearsal. So the alumni group was rehearsing with me in absentia.” He added, “They had all worked with me for so long. They were well-trained.”

Forman specifically mentioned former North Reading educator Ed Biggs. Forman said knew that Ed played saxophone and they had always talked about playing together. Biggs told Forman, “I was glad we finally got to appear on stage together.”

Kane told the Transcript, “He is so much more than just an instrumental teacher. He has reached so many students. Even if they couldn’t play on stage, they could support him in the audience.”

Through social media they began reaching out to all the different classes he had taught. They contacted his North End Band and pit orchestra members. Fellow graduates of U Mass Lowell, friends and family, and even his wife Robyn were in on the secret. The happy conspirators had to sneak all the music out of the classroom, scan it and put it back without him knowing.

Kane revealed key players in the plot. “Christina Lasdin (junior saxophone player) was integral in helping this covert operation because he notices everything. With the help of Michelle Shang (senior flute) and Gretchen LaPorte (junior percussionist) we snuck around finding extra instruments for alumni, music, and made secret recordings of Eric conducting rehearsals so that we could mimic his every move during our rehearsals.”

Kristen Dye, North Reading’s Batchelder and Hood elementary instrumental teacher, stepped up and conducted some of the alumni rehearsals. They set up a rehearsal in Kane’s classroom while she and Forman were away performing at Music in the Parks competition at Six Flags in Agawam.

The final rehearsal was held on the Wednesday afternoon of the concert in the Batchelder School’s gym. Kane revealed, “I told Eric I needed to go out and purchase new hose for the concert because mine had a run in them. But instead I went to the Batch to make sure all was good there, remind everyone of the game plan, and make it back to the high school before he noticed anything.” 

“We kept everything the same for the concert, but behind the scenes it was crazy,” she added. Students and faculty, including student technical director Riley Brunner and Chrissy Bowman, loaded extra chairs, stands, percussion equipment, instruments, extension cords, etc. into the hallway ready to go on stage.

Kane said, “Personally I had to keep running to the other side of the stage because that’s where I’ve stood for 11 years and I didn’t want him to know any different.” 

“Meanwhile, I started collecting photos from his life. I wanted to tell his story. I went through years of photos from musicals, newspaper clippings, Facebook entries and reached out to everyone to please send me photos. Mary Lasdin was amazing at looking up Transcript stories. I put that together as a slide show that was shown during the performance.”

In Kane’s tribute to Forman she shared with the audience that, “Eric began his teaching career in 1982-83 working in towns such has Hull, Tyngsboro and Lynnfield, and finally landing in North Reading in 1999. I have had the pleasure of knowing him since 2006. During that time he has demonstrated the value of finding real-world ways to integrate your passion into a balanced life that’s ultimately more meaningful not only to you, but to all those whose lives you touch.”

Kane continued, “Students in the classroom, marchers on the field, dancers on stage, players in the pit, techies on loading docks, North End revelers. All these and more have experienced what Eric can offer and his willingness to contribute towards making something great. Many of those people are here tonight, happy to celebrate his achievements and his place in their lives.”

Kane ended her remarks with a modified quote from the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus: “I think that he’s achieved a success far beyond riches and fame. Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony, Mr. Forman. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. We are the music of your life. Take it away, Maestro.”

After the performance Eric Forman thanked the audience, the alumni for coming back and Allison Kane. He made a special point to thank retired colleague Agatha Marano, with whom he worked for seven years, for attending. She brought him into the North Reading School system. 

The Alumni Band members were: Percussion – Brian Buck, Walter Nietzsche, Tom Lasdin, Nick MacNeil, Anthony O’Brien; Bass – Don Moultrop, Brian Lee; Piano – Allison Kane (NRHS); Clarinet – Carla Lister (NRMS), Christine Larsen (Batch), Sarah Bustin, Amelia Zani, Olivia Shapiro; Sax – Andrew Tenney, Ed Biggs, Jason Ciulla (8th grader); Trumpet – Kiara Zani, Colleen Finnegan, Jared MacDonald (8th grader), Kelly Crossan (8th grader); Trombone – Chris Tatro (Little) Andrew McPherson, Cam McPherson; Baritone – Ashton McDermott; Flute – Kristen Dye (Batch), Declan Geoffrion Scannell, Neva Ventullo, Katherine Lasdin, Jacky Sanger, Nicole Steinmeyer (8th grader), Kiera Lord (8th grader); French Horn – Mike Mikuski

As for the rest of the concert, it began with piano students playing several selections from popular films. Among them were Hedwig’s Theme performed by Daniel Invencio; “You Got a Friend in Me” performed by Megan Griffin and Caroline Belinowicz; the “James Bond Theme” performed by Trent Lee, and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” performed by Sam Sturdevant.

Next came the chorus directed by Kane doing numbers which included “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” and Eric Whitacre’s “Water night.”

North Reading High School’s a cappella ensemble NOTEorious performed five numbers including selections by Macklemore, Selena Gomez and Tom Walker. They ended their set with two selections from X Ambassadors combined with Machine Gun Kelley and Adele.

Forman then took the stage with the Jazz Band. They started out with “Sophisticated Lady” followed by “I Made It Through the Rain” and ended their performance with rousing versions of Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” and an upbeat version of “Night Train.”

The Concert Band played three selections prior to the finale: “The Gum-Suckers March,” “An Irish Rhapsody,” a medley of traditional Irish folk songs, and “Second Suite in F for Military Band” and then it was time to break for the presentation of awards and band letters for those students who had been in band for three years.

Editor Maureen Doherty contributed to this story.