‘Passion for music’ leads McClain freshman to upcoming tour with Pioneer Corps
Lead Summary
By
Caitlin Forsha-crforsha@gmail.com
Going on tour and performing across the country is the goal of many young musicians, but for one McClain High School freshman, that dream will come true this summer. Crystal Hargrave has been accepted into the Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps for the 2017 season as one of its youngest members.
Crystal is the daughter of Charlie and Rachel Hargrave of Sabina.
Pioneer Corps “promotes excellence in music education,” according to their website (http://www.pioneer-corps.org). The band includes brass, percussion and color guard and is based in Milwaukee, Wis.
“The best way to explain Pioneer Corps is it is a professional marching band,” Crystal said. “It’s more like a family. They bring you in and want to make you better, and they treat you like a brother and sister would.”
An audition is required for admission into the Pioneer Corps, and only 100 students are accepted each season. According to the Pioneer Corps website, auditions include “a personal interview to determine your attitude, ability to make rehearsals, your financial status and a performance evaluation to determine your ability level.” Crystal said that she wasn’t expecting to be accepted so quickly.
“You audition, and they say you can come back next month or next year, or you get a contract,” Crystal said. “As a freshman, you don’t expect to get anything. I thought I’d be told to keep working and come back.”
Instead, at just 14 years old, Crystal was offered a contract to play alongside musicians from across the US and even Japan, some of whom are six or seven years older than she is. There are high school upperclassmen as well as college students who perform with Pioneer, as the age limit is 21.
Crystal will be playing mellophone, “a marching band French horn,” for Pioneer, which she just began playing in eighth grade.
“I started on trumpet and made my way to French horn,” Crystal said. “I’ve been playing mellophone since eighth grade, but I’ve been in band since sixth grade.”
Starting in the band in sixth grade, when Greenfield schools begin offering the program, sparked a “passion for music” in Crystal.
“I’ve had a passion for music ever since,” she said. “I love doing it. You make a lot of friends and make unforgettable bonds with people.”
Crystal’s band teacher at McClain is her own father, Charlie Hargrave. Charlie is retiring at the end of this school year after 31 years of teaching, including 15 years in the Greenfield Exempted Village Schools, plus 12 at East Clinton and four years at Huntington.
“He’s been one of my biggest supporters,” Crystal said.
Crystal’s father also spoke about her accomplishments from a band teacher’s perspective.
“I’m proud of any band student to go on and do something a little bit more than band,” Charlie said. “We’ve got some pretty talented musicians in Greenfield. A lot of our students are involved in not only band, but choir and musicals. Crystal is in a very talented class, the freshman class.”
Crystal said that Pioneer is a relatively small performance ensemble, but she was drawn to its commitment to a “family environment,” as described by their website. The Pioneer Corps promotes the goal of “better every day,” with an emphasis on “success through individual rewards and goals, while developing team spirit and the opportunity of feeling the pain of losing and the joy of winning,” according to their website.
“There’s a motto to it that it’s not about winning, but doing this with people you love and who have the same interests as you and want to make you better,” Crystal said.
This summer, Crystal and the rest of the Pioneer Corps will embark on an 80-day tour across the US, performing and competing in several states before ending their summer at the semifinal and final competition at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“My parents will drop me off in May and pick me up in August,” Crystal said. “I’m excited, but there’s always that nervousness that hits you the closer you get.”
“It’s pretty neat,” Charlie said. “They take four buses and a kitchen with them and a semi for all the equipment. It’s like their own tour for the summer, like a rock band.”
Charlie said Crystal will be busy all summer, with long days of practicing and traveling to different competitions and events. Aside from a weekly trip to the store and to the laundromat, their schedule is “pretty much taken,” he said. She is already working with Pioneer by attending camps in Milwaukee this winter and spring, though Crystal said they are “a blast.” She has already attended one camp and said that she hasn’t met any other freshmen in the brass section yet, with many of her bandmates surprised at her young age.
“Everyone thought she was a junior or senior,” Charlie said. “She’s one of the youngest ones there.”
Charlie said that Crystal is also the only band member from Ohio that they know of, with other members coming from Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and even Japan. For a young teenager who lives in Sabina and attends school in Greenfield, the opportunity to interact with people of different backgrounds and cultures has been a great experience.
“There are a lot of people from bigger cities, like Chicago,” Crystal said. “You meet them and they’re like, ‘oh, I thought this would be bigger.’ There’s people from all over the world who come and march with us. It’s really neat to see other cultures.”
Crystal’s supporters will have the opportunity to see her performing on tour in Hamilton, Ohio on June 26, as Charlie said that is the closest of the corps’ stops this summer. Among the other locations where the Pioneer Corps will perform are Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., St. Louis, Mo. and Atlanta, Ga., along with other performances in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Crystal is also seeking sponsors, as the trip costs $2,800 per student. For anyone in the community who would like to help, donations can be mailed directly to Pioneer (in Crystal Hargrave’s name), or forms can be filled out online at www.pioneer-corps.org. Checks can also be mailed to 229 Mays Drive, Sabina, Ohio 45169 and should be made payable to Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps.
The Hargraves are grateful to the community for their support thus far as Crystal continues to prepare for her tour with Pioneer this summer.
“It’s a big deal,” Charlie said. “It’s quite an undertaking, but she’s looking forward to it. It’s a lot of work.”
Crystal is the daughter of Charlie and Rachel Hargrave of Sabina.
Pioneer Corps “promotes excellence in music education,” according to their website (http://www.pioneer-corps.org). The band includes brass, percussion and color guard and is based in Milwaukee, Wis.
“The best way to explain Pioneer Corps is it is a professional marching band,” Crystal said. “It’s more like a family. They bring you in and want to make you better, and they treat you like a brother and sister would.”
An audition is required for admission into the Pioneer Corps, and only 100 students are accepted each season. According to the Pioneer Corps website, auditions include “a personal interview to determine your attitude, ability to make rehearsals, your financial status and a performance evaluation to determine your ability level.” Crystal said that she wasn’t expecting to be accepted so quickly.
“You audition, and they say you can come back next month or next year, or you get a contract,” Crystal said. “As a freshman, you don’t expect to get anything. I thought I’d be told to keep working and come back.”
Instead, at just 14 years old, Crystal was offered a contract to play alongside musicians from across the US and even Japan, some of whom are six or seven years older than she is. There are high school upperclassmen as well as college students who perform with Pioneer, as the age limit is 21.
Crystal will be playing mellophone, “a marching band French horn,” for Pioneer, which she just began playing in eighth grade.
“I started on trumpet and made my way to French horn,” Crystal said. “I’ve been playing mellophone since eighth grade, but I’ve been in band since sixth grade.”
Starting in the band in sixth grade, when Greenfield schools begin offering the program, sparked a “passion for music” in Crystal.
“I’ve had a passion for music ever since,” she said. “I love doing it. You make a lot of friends and make unforgettable bonds with people.”
Crystal’s band teacher at McClain is her own father, Charlie Hargrave. Charlie is retiring at the end of this school year after 31 years of teaching, including 15 years in the Greenfield Exempted Village Schools, plus 12 at East Clinton and four years at Huntington.
“He’s been one of my biggest supporters,” Crystal said.
Crystal’s father also spoke about her accomplishments from a band teacher’s perspective.
“I’m proud of any band student to go on and do something a little bit more than band,” Charlie said. “We’ve got some pretty talented musicians in Greenfield. A lot of our students are involved in not only band, but choir and musicals. Crystal is in a very talented class, the freshman class.”
Crystal said that Pioneer is a relatively small performance ensemble, but she was drawn to its commitment to a “family environment,” as described by their website. The Pioneer Corps promotes the goal of “better every day,” with an emphasis on “success through individual rewards and goals, while developing team spirit and the opportunity of feeling the pain of losing and the joy of winning,” according to their website.
“There’s a motto to it that it’s not about winning, but doing this with people you love and who have the same interests as you and want to make you better,” Crystal said.
This summer, Crystal and the rest of the Pioneer Corps will embark on an 80-day tour across the US, performing and competing in several states before ending their summer at the semifinal and final competition at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“My parents will drop me off in May and pick me up in August,” Crystal said. “I’m excited, but there’s always that nervousness that hits you the closer you get.”
“It’s pretty neat,” Charlie said. “They take four buses and a kitchen with them and a semi for all the equipment. It’s like their own tour for the summer, like a rock band.”
Charlie said Crystal will be busy all summer, with long days of practicing and traveling to different competitions and events. Aside from a weekly trip to the store and to the laundromat, their schedule is “pretty much taken,” he said. She is already working with Pioneer by attending camps in Milwaukee this winter and spring, though Crystal said they are “a blast.” She has already attended one camp and said that she hasn’t met any other freshmen in the brass section yet, with many of her bandmates surprised at her young age.
“Everyone thought she was a junior or senior,” Charlie said. “She’s one of the youngest ones there.”
Charlie said that Crystal is also the only band member from Ohio that they know of, with other members coming from Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and even Japan. For a young teenager who lives in Sabina and attends school in Greenfield, the opportunity to interact with people of different backgrounds and cultures has been a great experience.
“There are a lot of people from bigger cities, like Chicago,” Crystal said. “You meet them and they’re like, ‘oh, I thought this would be bigger.’ There’s people from all over the world who come and march with us. It’s really neat to see other cultures.”
Crystal’s supporters will have the opportunity to see her performing on tour in Hamilton, Ohio on June 26, as Charlie said that is the closest of the corps’ stops this summer. Among the other locations where the Pioneer Corps will perform are Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., St. Louis, Mo. and Atlanta, Ga., along with other performances in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Crystal is also seeking sponsors, as the trip costs $2,800 per student. For anyone in the community who would like to help, donations can be mailed directly to Pioneer (in Crystal Hargrave’s name), or forms can be filled out online at www.pioneer-corps.org. Checks can also be mailed to 229 Mays Drive, Sabina, Ohio 45169 and should be made payable to Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps.
The Hargraves are grateful to the community for their support thus far as Crystal continues to prepare for her tour with Pioneer this summer.
“It’s a big deal,” Charlie said. “It’s quite an undertaking, but she’s looking forward to it. It’s a lot of work.”