They say if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life.
B -A junior Anthony Berardi is walking proof of that. While Berardi loves to play percussion, he’s never allowed it to become a chore, so he finds success most places where he plays.
Last week was no exception.
On Friday, January 24, Bellwood-Antis hosted the annual PMEA District 6 band concert. Students playing in the concert had a chance to advance to the Region III band festival later this winter.
Only one Bellwood-Antis musician advanced, and it was Berardi.
“His model of ‘playing for fun at a high level’ is a great model for success!” said B-A band director Mr. Patrick Sachse.
Anthony has been in band since 4th grade, and back then, Mr. Sachse said, he was mostly mashing songs from movies and video games.
“Over the years he’s taken the same level of ‘goofing around’ on his instrument and applied it to classical music expectations,” Mr. Sachse said.
Berardi said conducting his audition in his home school helped a lot.
“It was nice because during auditions we used instruments we’ve always used with the high school band, so I was very familiar and comfortable,” he said. “Percussion is a wide range of instruments” he remarked, including apparatus as diverse as the snare and timpani drums, and auxiliary instruments like the cowbell and triangle.
Strongly influenced by watching his father’s rock band as a youngster, Berardi claims that his love for activities such as honors bands like Districts and regionals stems from the difficulty of the music. He enjoys learning harder songs because “they are fun to learn.”
This is Berardi’s second time advancing to regionals and he’s hoping to make his second appearance at states with a strong audition. Last year he was the second chair, but he hopes to place higher this year.
“He is capable of anything he chooses to invest his time in,” Mr. Sachse stated.
Along with Berardi, three other B-A musicians auditioned and played in District band: Emily Zacker, Brooklyn Lambert, and Trinity Maines.
Regionals is scheduled to take place March 5-7 at the Altoona Area Highschool. Good luck Anthony!