What’s Up With Sequoyah Bands Outside of School?
Sequoyah’s high school has always had a big music curriculum, with classes like Studio Band, Gryphon Ensemble, and Guitar and Music Production. Sequoyah’s high school has very talented musicians who have come out of these programs and go on to create their own bands. Whether making their own music or covering other artists, Sequoyah student musical talent runs deep, with multiple genres of music.
One student, Kieran Calof ’29, started a band with his brother Quinn Calof ’27. They officially started to play together in 2020, in a band named Johnny Ravens. “We play some rock; we play a little metal… we're trying to get into other genres, like a little jazz, maybe some technical stuff; we just try to keep a variety,” Quinn says.
Kieran Calof explained how playing music outside of a class setting allows him to express himself in different and creative ways. Johnny Ravens gives Kieran and Quinn Calof the freedom to play whatever music they want whenever they want. Both of them have taken music courses at Sequoyah; Kieran says, “I think that it’s all about variety… I love playing with people at Sequoyah.” However, he also says that he loves the freedom that comes from just playing with his brother.
Nate Dumont ’27 is a very talented musician who is a part of six different bands outside of Sequoyah. “My main band… played in my middle school's rock program and then just kept going out of school.” Nate Dumont '27 explained that school music programs can be a starting point for students to keep their love of music going outside of school. Dumont started with a middle school rock band called Sunday The Band, and has since joined six other bands with a variety of styles. “Some people just hired me who’d seen me play," Dumont says.
With all these programs that Sequoyah provides, even letting kids hang out in the music room during lunch, the school has created a welcoming place for music. June Baker ’27 shares, “We would get the guitars, and Hart would bring his harp to school… and we would just start playing things.” Playing with her friends in the music room became “oh, we should make this a thing. And then we started a band [June and the Bitches], and we just started playing covers and stuff.” Baker ’27 says.
Julius Farbman ’29 is also keeping his future music plans open. “I want to keep continuing my music journey,” he states. Farbman has played gigs in both jazz and classical genres; he has mostly gotten jobs “either by just reaching out to places or having personal connections to places.” He has taken his love of playing music in and out of school and turned it into a way to make some money.
Farbman also explained how he has had success getting paid for some gigs and finding his way to get out there and meet more musicians. Ben Ede, Sequoyah's music teacher, says that “having a program like this one that's not as focused on traditional forms of music education has created a nice laboratory… playing music that they care about as opposed to music that the teacher or the school cares about.” This may be a small shift, but it is definitely shaping Sequoyah's musicians to come out of these programs and pursue music beyond high school.
As Farbman puts it, he wanted to “Keep his options open.” This mindset captures the soul of Sequoyah’s high school’s music program. Whether these students end up pursuing a music career in the future or just keep playing for fun and seeing where that will lead them, Sequoyah has given them a place to work on music—and, more importantly, the confidence to pick up an instrument and learn it then and there.