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Youth ensemble trying to get started
By MICHELE MILLER © St. Petersburg Times, published October 16, 2000 HOLIDAY -- Nick Demasky is only 15, but he already knows that music is his life. A Gulf High School freshman, Nick spends most of his waking moments playing the flute -- whether it's for the high school band, his private lessons, or pieces he needs to hone as a member of the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra. "I practice whenever and wherever I can," Nick said during a recent self-imposed practice session at the Pasco Fine Arts Center where his mom, Trish Demasky, works as a program director. Two weeks spent at a music camp at Florida State University in Tallahassee this past summer have only served to ignite Nick's passion for music. "Everything was music -- from the time we'd be up at 6 a.m. in the morning till we went to bed at night," Nick said. "I'd leave to go to the dorms and catch a snatch of conversation in the halls and it would be about music -- everything was music." The music to be learned was more than challenging, said Nick, who after taking a conducting class at the camp has decided that's what he wants to be. But first he wants to play for a youth ensemble group now struggling to be formed in Pasco County. The Pasco County Youth Ensemble is the brainstorm of Nick's mother, who would like to see local high school students have the opportunity for a symphonic experience without having to travel to Tampa or Seminole -- homes of the nearest youth orchestras. At the same time, students would be working their way toward a scholarship to attend the same two-week summer music program her son attended at Florida State. A handful of teens have signed on for the program, but more are needed to form a solid core group, said Trish Demasky, who has contacted high school band directors, trying to spread the word. "I think it would be awesome," said Linda Carozza, a sophomore who plays trumpet in the Gulf High Band and the Richie Concert Band and has already signed on to the program. "We deserve this." Students who sign up for the program agree to attend practice sessions for roughly an hour and a half once a week and would be asked to perform at a variety of community events. Money raised from donations at these events would go into a scholarship fund to send ensemble members to the summer camp program at Florida State. High school seniors would have the option of attending the camp or putting their scholarship money toward college tuition. The premise has already worked on a smaller scale, Trish Demasky said. Nick would often play at Pasco Arts Council Events while trying to raise the $600 tuition to attend band camp as well as money for a new flute. "He played the flute for the Holiday House and we put out a little sign saying, "Earning money for a flute,' " Trish Demasky said. "People were more than willing to put money down when they heard what he was doing." Some even trekked over to the Music Center of Holiday to anonymously give toward Nick's monthly flute payments. When it came time to raise money for band camp, people responded in kind, Trish Demasky said. "I thought if people would joyfully give for one kid, why wouldn't they do it for others?" Demasky already has garnered some support from the local community as well as the FSU summer band program, which will match scholarship donations up to $70 and waive the usual $50 registration fee. Some high school directors have offered the use of their band rooms for practice sessions. The Richey Community Orchestra also offered to donate sheet music. Randy Roberts, a musician and former band director at Hernando High School, has volunteered to co-conduct the 15 or so members needed to get the ensemble off the ground along with local musician and music teacher Steve Boisen. Roberts, who now teaches and serves as a guidance counselor at Schwettman Education Center in New Port Richey, is excited about the prospect of starting something new in Pasco County. He sees the youth ensemble as a good supplement to school music programs, an added outlet for serious high school musicians. "They say, "from meager beginings come great things,' " said Boisen, who along with Demasky would like to see the small ensemble blossom into something bigger down the road, maybe even a full-fledged youth orchestra. "If we could just get the basic core -- that's where the seeds are." For now, Boisen is hoping to recruit just a few more serious musicians who really love music. "We want this to be a fun experience where they can play their instruments and have no pressure," Boisen said. "We want this to be an outlet where kids can enjoy the experience and work to their goal while learning a little bit more about music." - Note: Needed for the Pasco Youth Ensemble are flute, clarinet, saxophone, french horn, trombone, trumpet and tuba players. For information or to make donations to the scholarship program, call Trish Demasky at the Pasco Fine Arts Center at (727) 845-7322.
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