- April 25, 2024
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"Once you're a Kiltie, you're always a Kiltie." It's an oft-repeated saying among members of the Riverview High School Kiltie Band. It rings especially true for current band director Mark Spreen, who is also a former Kiltie band member.
Do you feel a pressure to uphold that Kiltie tradition?
I want to uphold that tradition. Maybe it’s self-imposed. Nobody has ever come up to me and said, "You better do this." I feel like because of my background with the band and knowing where the band came from that it’s something that I want to try and uphold. Now, it’s my turn to do that, and someday, I’ll pass that torch on to another director to do the same thing.
How has the Kilties changed since you were a student?
Right now, we’re at 235 kids in the marching band. When I was in school, I think the difference was the high school then was 10th, 11th and 12th grade. So when I was in school, I think the band was about 180. It’s changed in that regard because now we have ninth graders. The uniforms are the same since the band started 55 years ago.
Why did you decide to return to Riverview High School?
I guess it was just fate to a certain extent. I'm from Sarasota, and I have family here, so I wanted to be close to my family. I guess, growing up I always thought that after I got out of school and decided to become a band director that it would be nice to be the director of the high school that you went to.
How does it feel to direct the band you were once a part of?
When I first started doing it was really a special feeling. Over the years I’ve become more accustomed to it. The first time that you come back and you see the band out there on the field, you have a lot of memories of when you did it, and it’s a very special feeling. It still is. I still get that feeling when I see the band out there performing.
Do you prefer concert or marching band season?
Concert, because it has more musical value. We try and have what we call music education. We try to do more educating about music and music as an art form through the concert program. I enjoy the marching, and there are a lot of things that come from the marching program that kids learn, like leadership, teamwork and dedication.
Is there a compositional theme for the 2015 concert season?
Not really, because we do so much. We do five concerts, and they’re all so different. We try to do a little bit of everything...We’ll do everything from Broadway shows to Sousa marches to a pop tune and even traditional concert band music.
What is your favorite type of music to conduct?
I wouldn’t want to pick one over the others. I want to be able to do all of them. The more different styles of music you can expose kids to and have them perform the better it is for them to have a more well-rounded education. You would be surprised at what students will bring up to me and say "This would be a great song to play." It could be anything from a pop tune to orchestral music for band. If it’s something that I think we can do I’ll look into it.
What are your goals for this season?
We have several concerts planned and also a trip to Philadelphia. That’s at the forefront of our minds right now, because we’ll be going up there for the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day parade.
What’s been one of your favorite traveling performance experiences?
My favorite one was probably the trip to Ireland. We went over there and played in the St. Patrick’s Day parade and got to tour Ireland for about five days.
What do you want students to gain from their experience in the band?
Being part of the band when I was in high school made me choose music as a career. If I had not been here, I don’t know if I would have gone into music. I just had a very special experience as a high school student being a part of this band.
To provide an even more stellar sound experience the Kiltie Band is collecting funds for for an acoustic shell to be used at the Riverview Performing Arts Center. The cost of the structure is $165,000. In one year, the group has received $90,000 in contributions and pledges.
Click here to make make contributions.
