Instrument drive held to support Bellefonte music students

The fine arts department at Bellefonte Area School District and its booster club work hand-in-hand to meet several goals of the program, which includes generating and maintaining an enthusiastic interest in the various facets of the department, in addition to providing student services at the highest possible degree.

And the benefits of participating in music classes and extracurricular activities are endless, according to music teacher and Band Director Caleb Rebarchak.

“Being part of a performing ensemble can give students a sense of belonging and contributing toward the larger whole, teaching them teambuilding skills and helping to promote emotional development, due to the emotive aspect of music,” he said. “It allows students a chance to grow emotionally and provide them a healthy outlet in order to do that.”

Additionally, being involved in music and the fine and performing arts “allows synthesis of a variety of subject areas as students are reading and hearing a language – the music itself,” Rebarchak added. That also includes incorporating math by counting different time signatures and subdivision of rhythms, learning science and the physics of producing sound, and delving into social studies by exploring the context in how music was written.

Most importantly, he said, “students have a chance to learn about and appreciate the arts, which is an appreciation they will have for their entire lives.”

To help accomplish that, those involved in the fine and performing arts program aim to put instruments in the hands of students who participate in band and orchestra. To better make that possible, an instrument drive is being held through next school year to provide students of all ages with instruments that may be too costly to buy or replace. Other accessories are also accepted, and all monetary donations will go towards the purchase of equipment.

“Some of the instruments that we currently have are beyond repair, and this would allow for more students to be able to participate in our program if they are in need of borrowing an instrument rather than purchasing one or renting one,” Rebarchak said.

Instruments needed are ones found typically in string orchestra and concert band, such as violins, violas, cellos, basses, flutes, clarinets, alto saxophones, tenor saxophones, baritone saxophones, trumpets, trombones, tubas, sousaphones and more.

Instruments often range from about $500 to more than $5,000. Rebarchak further explained that a quality student model alto saxophone is typically about $1,200 brand new, while a quality student model baritone saxophone is closer to $5,000. A smaller instrument such as a flute might be closer to $500, and a single timpani drum can cost more than $2,000, of which four timpani are part of a full set.