Band Director Collin Myers. (Photo by Vishwa Rasania)

A new band director has taken over the instrumental music department at the Bromfield School for the 2010-2011 school year. Collin Myers says he plans to bring fresh new ideas to the table and is very excited to be working at Bromfield.

Myers is filling in for band director Tom Reynolds, who took a sabbatical for a year to work on his doctorate degree at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Myers grew up in West Boylston and graduated from New York's Ithaca College in May, with a degree in music education. He remembers participating in the auditioned honor band for Central District when he was in middle school and high school. "It brings back memories, seeing current students sign up for the same wonderful experience," he said in a recent interview.

Myers plays a range of instruments and has been a member of the Ithaca concert band, symphonic band, and wind ensemble. He was also woodwind section head for a marching band in Webster, N.Y., and has played in a brass quintet and a drum and bugle corps.

Bromfield choral director Talia Mercadante, who has been working at Bromfield since the fall of 2007, says she is very excited to be working with Myers. "He has a strong foundation. He attended Ithaca College, which has a very good music education program."

Band Director Collin Myers and Choral Director Talia Mercadante take a break between classes. (Photo by Vishwa Rasania)

The new director plans to further musical opportunities for students through extracurricular activities. He explained, "We are continuing the high school jazz ensemble and the string ensemble. We are just starting up Tri-M (Modern Music Masters) music national honors society, as well as starting a middle school jazz ensemble."

Some of his goals for the year include "continuing the tradition of excellence that has long been established in Bromfield." He said he wants to "offer a new perspective on music-making, as well as to challenge the perception that music is an academic break during a rigorous school day!"

Myers believes that music is an important part of life, and it should not be abandoned after a student goes off to college. "Music is something you should continue for your entire life," he said. "It's not something you do just for middle school or high school. It's a great way to express oneself." He expressed his belief that "music is a means of communicating something that can be so difficult to say or express in other art forms. It engages the entire body, the mind, and, most importantly, it engages the heart."

Myers is very excited to share his passion for music with Bromfield. "I love Bromfield," he said. "The students are respectful, dedicated, and very talented. The administration and faculty are wonderful to work with; they are very supportive and always willing to help … it is just an absolute inspiration."

The school year's first band concert will be Thursday, Oct. 21, when Myers will conduct songs he has been practicing with the high school and middle school wind ensembles and the jazz band.