Cross Country Music Exchange

SEELEY LAKE – Maryland and Montana may be a couple thousand miles apart, but on March 22 they will come together at Seeley-Swan High School. Alpine Artisans' 2 Valleys Stage is sponsoring a free concert jointly performed by orchestra students from Hellgate and Sentinel High Schools of Missoula, Mont. and the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts (BISFA) from Hagerstown, Md.

The thread tying these schools together is William Hollin. From 2004 to 2009 Hollin directed the school orchestras for Missoula County Public Schools at Hellgate and Sentinel High Schools. He also served as conductor and music director for the Missoula Youth Symphony. Hollin's groups consistently earned Superior ratings at State Music Festivals.

In 2009, when BISFA was organized as a Maryland magnet high school for gifted arts students, Hollin accepted a position as the school's music instructor. Currently he holds the position of Lead Instrumental Music Teacher, with a staff of seven full and part-time faculty under him.

In Montana. Ryan Davis succeeded Hollin as Director of Orchestras at the Missoula high schools and the Missoula Youth Symphony. Collaborating together, the two men envisioned a visit exchange between the student musicians of their schools. In 2012 the first exchange took place. It was repeated in 2014 and now in 2016.

At the Missoula end, the exchange was open to any Sentinel or Hellgate High School orchestra student. The 45 students who ended up participating in the exchange earned money for their trip through fundraisers such as selling citrus and gift wrapping and working the Banana Booth at Missoula's Western Montana Fair. The students of each city host their counterpart students for two days of their visits. The rest of the time they stay overnight in hotels.

In a report he emailed back, Davis said the Missoula students went to some classes with the BISFA students.

He said, "It gets our students out of their own world and they get the experience of what the daily life of students in Maryland is like. Many were amazed at the different cultures and norms.  For example, many of my students were amazed that students in Maryland needed a staff member from the school to walk them across the street (Missoula schools have open lunch). They [Missoula students] were exposed to a great deal of Civil War history, which is something that has had a very different impact on states like Maryland than it has on Montana."

Davis also said putting together a joint musical program was a good experience for his students. They will play a diverse music selection which includes the Civil War era song, Aura Lee, and a medley of old Western movie themes. On the classical side they will play part of a Tchaikovsky symphony and The Bach Double Violin Concerto with one soloist from each group.

"We're playing a little bit of everything," Davis said.

From past experience, Davis knows the exchange widens students' viewpoint in unexpected ways. He said two BISFA students from a previous exchange trip were so impressed with Missoula that after graduating they chose to continue their education at the University of Montana.