On Saturday, April 15, Lampeter-Strasburg (L-S) High School sophomore Carson Zook will perform in the District 7 Modern Band Festival, organized by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA). Zook is the first student from L-S to participate in the program and will perform on electric bass in the concert at Spring Grove Area High School.

PMEA District 7 held its first Modern Band Festival last year. Unlike PMEA's orchestra and jazz festivals, the budding event focuses on more contemporary genres of music and incorporates instruments like electric guitar and bass. Zook was encouraged to audition for this year's festival by Erik Welchans, who is the choral director at L-S and teaches several elective classes such as guitar. "I had (Zook) in my guitar class and he showed great talent, so I suggested that he audition for the festival," Welchans said.

Zook auditioned on electric bass by submitting four separate recordings to PMEA to demonstrate his skill, including an improvised walking bassline. He placed first in the eight-county region.

Zook began playing upright bass in fourth grade and started exploring electric bass around four years ago. He is an active participant in the jazz and full orchestral bands at L-S and recently starting learning drums to fill a need in his church's band. In his free time, Zook likes to learn heavy metal songs; one of his favorite bands is Make Them Suffer. "I love upbeat music and heavy instrumentals," Zook said. "Sometimes I'll listen to a heavy metal song, and I can recognize something that I've learned from classical and jazz music. There's always that influence."

The academic focus on modern music at the high school level is a new initiative that has grown over the course of the last decade. Curricula for newer music are being developed more than ever before, giving students and teachers across the country the resources to teach classes that cover many aspects of making music in the modern world.

Although the movement is controversial to some in the academic world, Welchans said that he is excited at its prospects and is currently developing a modern band course that will be offered at L-S next year. In the class, students will learn how to play the drums, keyboard and guitar, spending two weeks focusing on each instrument. Welchans' syllabus will also cover vocal techniques; his goal is to spend the marking period helping students to develop their own sound.

Welchans also noted that he hopes to complete a modern band certificate program for educators at Lebanon Valley College. "I would love to become certified to be a better instructor and learn more about it," Welchans said. "I'm just excited to be a part of this initiative, and I'm excited to see how it grows."