By Marisa Laviano – Staff Reporter

The Jonathan Law band is back to live performances after 18 measures of rest.

The band is excited to make their return back to the Jonathan Law community after a year and a half of no performances due to COVID-19. They are in the process of showing off  their technical improvements at concerts and football games after the unanticipated absence from performing.

“I’m most excited for our students to have the ability to perform and present all of their learning to their friends and families,” said Law band Director Mr. Pelaggi. “Some of our students don’t even realize how much they have missed performing.”

Pelaggi is also working on having the band perform an outdoor concert in the near future. The date of this concert is to be determined since they are still waiting to be cleared by the Milford Health Department.

Even though the band hasn’t started performing concerts yet, they have started performing at Jonathan Law football games.

“The excitement and craziness of our first football game performance was great,” Pelaggi said. “It was awesome for the kids to put their uniforms on and present themselves so well.”

This year the band is planning to implement a new song called “Hey Baby” to perform at every home football game during the end of the first quarter. 

“It has a sing along part so hopefully we can get the student section and the crowd to sing with us,” Pelaggi said.

Because of COVID-19, many students have missed out on performance opportunities in the past couple years.

“I’m most excited to get back to performing in front of live audiences and football games, it is what a band is meant to do,” sophomore Christopher Rickard said. “The fun of playing in front of everyone is what keeps me going, and being able to hang out with friends at the games during third quarter break is worth the work we put into the shows.”

Upperclassmen have not performed since they were underclassmen, and underclassmen have not performed since middle school.

“I’m excited for the uniforms, they look so cool,” freshman Eli Gill said. “We never had a marching uniform in middle school because we never had a marching band.

This year with COVID-19 protocols decreasing, the band has new guidelines that they must follow compared to the past.

When practicing inside the horn section must be 6×6 feet apart and the percussion section must be 4×4 feet with masks on. When practicing outside, students are allowed to take off their masks as long as they are social distancing.

“It’s harder to hear what the people around you are playing so it makes it a little harder to play your part and to get help on a part,” junior assistant drum major Kayla Lembo said. “I do think overall though we have adjusted as well as we can to the protocols that have to be put in place.”

These protocols, even though less intense than last year’s protocols, make it difficult for the students to come together. However, the Jonathan Law band students continue to connect with one another and help one another.

“I’m planning on helping the band out with any questions they have, helping Mr. P with extra rehearsals, outside-of-school performances, and the general well being of the group,” junior section leader Katie Servas said. “Having the ability to be so involved has been the highlight of my junior year so far.”

Even with a few setbacks, the band is back and better than ever this year, giving great hopes for the group in years to come.