MassBay Music Festival

On Friday April 30th, the first ever MassBay Music Festival was hosted by Burlington High School. MassBay Music Festivals is a company associated with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps that runs an educational festival for bands and choirs from the Massachusetts region. At such festivals as this one, bands and choirs compete against each other and are instructed by judges about ways to improve their performance. Unique to MassBay, each participant of the festival also attends a "Master Class," which is an educational time taught by a professional musician. Click on this link to learn more about MassBay festivals.

To assist in planning an event such as this, members of Stage Crew met with Ms. Kimberly Bolduc, the program's coordinator, the day before the festival. Kevin Parker as Stage Manager and Tori Carrabino as his Assistant Stage Manager talked logistics, space requirements, and performance set-ups with Ms. Bolduc, while Chris LaRocque met with the program's sound technician.

On Friday, it was showtime. Kevin had prepared the stage and practice rooms, with a group of Stage Crew members, early in the morning on Friday. As students arrived from Saugus High School and Rockport High School to participate in the festival, Kevin, Tori, and the Stage Crew members who were on the Project Team for the day coordinated with the High School's music directors and Ms. Bolduc to ensure a smooth opening to the day. Throughout the festival, the Stage Crew once again proved its professionalism and willingness to work, moving chairs, risers, music stands, and all sorts of percussion equipment around the Music Wing. Working with MassBay Event Staff, the Stage Crew maintained a positive and educational environment for the students attending the festival.

Ms. Bolduc and other Event Staff commended the entire crew's work and their level of professionalism. The crew was thanked in the Awards Ceremony at the end of the festival.

This event was a great educational experience for all crew involved; it was a novel type of event for all of them to crew. Generally, the stage crew only works for theatre and dramatic productions. The festival showed them another venue where logistical support and technical personnel are absolutely essential to the effectiveness of an event.

Thanks to Team Leaders Nick Abruzzese and Nick Stewart for stepping up to leadership positions to help the day run smoothly.