Honor Society

Getting There is Half the Fun

There's plenty of prep work leading up to The Disney Honors. Students at Western Albemarle High School—and band director Steve Layman—know all about it.
by Marisa Rindone

Steve Layman and the Western Albemarle High School Symphonic Band have been in the middle of a winter rush. Preparation has been the name of the game as the band director and his students prepare for a March appearance at The Disney Honors.

The Crozet, Virginia, group will journey to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida for exciting performances and workshops before an esteemed panel of adjudicators at the non-competitive festival for high-school instrumental and choral ensembles. While the band will be there for three days, the process of making it all happen has lasted considerably longer.

"A festival like this is usually a two-year push," explains Layman, a veteran director who has led groups in three previous Disney programs. "You build skills and momentum the first year to put yourself in the place you would like to be the second."

The band, on the strength of its submitted materials, received official acceptance when school started in September. Then things really got busy.

Students peddled fruit, bagels and candy to fund their trip, and coupon books were sold between the hours of rehearsals, during which time the band tweaked material they'd already honed to turn in a successful audition. The Crozet community took notice of the band's efforts—the local Lion's Club and the Pfizer Volunteer Foundation made contributions to Western Albemarle's fundraising.

And the band has kept its preparation engine in high gear as the trip approaches. Beyond working on music, they've demonstrated that they're not content to leave all the trip logistics to their chaperones. When it came time to coordinate transportation, for example, students opted to travel in traditional concert-tour fashion: on wheels. "The students had the opportunity to choose... and they selected the bus over air travel," Layman says. "I think the kids thought the bus trip would be more of an adventure."

The group effort leads to a big finish for the students as well as their leader. "This is my final year of public school band directing," Layman says. "I will retire in June with 31 years behind me—23 at Western Albemarle. I can't think of a better way to end things than with a performance at The Disney Honors."

Fast Facts:

The Disney Honors

Who: High-school band, orchestra and choral ensembles

Where: Throughout the Walt Disney World Resort

When: March 6-9, 2009, March 12-15, 2010

Sign up your band or learn more by visiting www.disneyhonors.com