Boys. Homework. Music.
As friends since seventh grade, Gilroy High School seniors Lisa
Glasspool and Ronnie Phillips have a lot to talk about.
The love they share the most is all about what helped them
become friends in the first place
– their music.
Boys. Homework. Music.
As friends since seventh grade, Gilroy High School seniors Lisa Glasspool and Ronnie Phillips have a lot to talk about.
The love they share the most is all about what helped them become friends in the first place – their music.
Both Glasspool and Phillips, who met at Brownell Academy when they had the same schedule because they were in band together, play wind instruments in one of the GHS bands and have excelled to the level of being accepted into a few of the region’s most prestigious honor bands.
Glasspool, who plays the flute, was accepted to the Northern California Honor Band while Phillips, on clarinet, was named to the Santa Clara County Honor Band. While the girls also both share the trait of modesty when asked about being named to the band, director Joey Fortino is a little more outspoken.
“Both of those are hard to get into,” said Joey Fortino, Gilroy High School’s band director. “They’re both talented musicians … the type of people who love challenges.”
Fortino said he was thrilled to see Glasspool earn the regional band honor, especially because it was in the most competitive of instruments.
“It’s absolutely insane to get in on a flute,” he said. “There’s hundreds and hundreds that apply.”
To enter, the 17-year-old had to make a CD displaying her talent on the flute and sent it to a committee that judged each entry.
“Flutes are pretty competitive because there are a lot of flute players and few parts,” Glasspool said. “Plus, they’re all really good.”
The committee deemed that Glasspool was more than good enough to make it on the band. Fortino said that she scored high enough to be in the middle of the honor group. Those who made it into the band went to Stockton for a weekend in mid-January to practice and then took part in a concert Jan. 18.
“It can be really intimidating, but it makes you work harder than you ever have worked,” Glasspool said about the experience. “There’s some pretty amazing people there.”
Glasspool has been playing the flute for eight years, since the fifth grade. While her talent in music is obvious now – she also can play the string bass and has played the trombone and oboe as well – she is almost embarrassed to say why she started playing the flute in the first place.
“I have dumb reasoning,” she laughed. “It looked small.
“I kept playing because I like the way it sounds,” she continued. “It’s really challenging, and that’s what makes it fun. I like the feeling you get when you learn something new.”
Glasspool said her favorite music to play is classical.
“It sounds really cliche, but I really like Mozart,” she said.
Glasspool practices an hour a day outside of the work she does in the classroom, and she plans to continue to play music in college.
“I want to be a music major at Boston University,” she said.
For Phillips, music has always been a part of her life, but it’s not what she wants to do for a living.
“Music is one of the most effective releases from the drama of life,” she said. “Music is one of the few things that actually moves me.”
The 18-year-old said that she has something different in store for her – in the field of science.
“My dream career is an interplanetary geologist,” she said. “I want to keep playing, but I don’t want to make it a career.”
Phillips said she hopes to one day take part in testing living conditions on other planets, much like what is going on right now with the rovers on Mars.
“I’ve always loved space, and science has always been my thing,” she said. “I always figured you want a career where you like getting up for it every day, like Lisa and her music.”
While Phillips has her eyes set on the stars, her ability on the clarinet, an instrument she said she picked up because of its versatility, is down-to-earth exceptional.
“I was exposed to music at a young age,” said Glasspool, whose father was a drum player and often had oldies music or jazz playing at home.
Instead of making a CD of music, like Glasspool did, Phillips had to audition in person to be accepted into the Santa Clara County Honor Band, which was something she almost didn’t do.
“Ronnie wasn’t going to audition,” Fortino said. “She didn’t think she was good enough. She’s one of those people that doesn’t have the confidence she deserves.”
About 36 clarinet players signed up, and just more than 20 were accepted into the band. After the tryouts in early January, the band went through a few weekend rehearsals and had a concert Jan. 25. The band only represents the top players from the county, but Fortino said that the band is highly regarded by directors throughout the state.
“Santa Clara Honor Band, depending on who you talk to, is often better regarded than the Northern California band because of the quality of artists we have right here,” he said.
Ronnie, whose favorite choral composer is Eric Whitacre, also found out recently that she was accepted to UC Santa Cruz, her first choice of colleges.
Both girls also take private music lessons in Morgan Hill; Glasspool with Pat Chambers and Phillips with Pat’s husband, Steve Chambers.
“That helped them develop a lot,” Fortino said.
Phillips said that putting in the extra effort is something that not just anyone is willing to do, but that is what makes a big difference.
“It’s a lot of time,” Phillips said. “Not everyone puts in time like that.”
Five students from GHS tried out for honor bands, but Glasspool and Phillips were the only students to make it to that level.
“It’s an opportunity,” Phillips said. “We’re one of the few that tried out.”
While the music is important to her, Glasspool said she’d probably still be in band even if it wasn’t part of her career goals. Being in the band has meant a lot more than a just a lifetime appreciation of music.
“I met a lot of new friends in band, and a lot of my friends are in band,” she said.
