Marching to the beat of her own drum (major)

What Homewood High alumna Emi Ferderber loves about marching band is that every individual in the band contributes to the overall sound. But this fall, she’ll be contributing a little bit more to her college band as she takes on the role of drum major.

Ferderber just finished her freshman year at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She’ll be the youngest of three drum majors in the band next school year. Homewood High assistant band director Chris Cooper said it’s “pretty rare” for first-year band members to earn such a leadership position, helping to guide the band in everything from practice to performance, but she’s well prepared for the role after two years as the HHS drum major.

“To make drum major at Homewood High School is a very prestigious honor. You have to be a very good musician, you have to be a very good leader and liked by her peers. She’s one of the best musicians to come through the band here,” said Cooper, who worked with Ferderber every year since she started in the middle school band. “She just excelled in being a leader for us.”

When her younger sister Jane, who is also in the Homewood band and was the drum major this past school year, shared Emi Ferderber’s news, Cooper said he immediately thought, “Of course she did.” 

“So it wasn’t a surprise to us,” Cooper said.

Ferderber’s family moved to Edgewood when she was in second grade. Music was a part of her life from childhood, as her mother taught her piano. Though she was also part of Peer Helpers and French Club in high school, it seemed like a given that she would become part of the Homewood marching band.

“I guess it wasn’t really a question of whether I would join band in middle school because it’s such a big part of the community,” Ferderber said.

She began as a clarinetist in sixth grade and continued until graduation. She said she enjoyed the “good cross-section” of the student body that Homewood’s large band represented, and her band directors’ enthusiasm. Some of her favorite memories from high school band were performing in the Rose Parade in California and being chosen to direct concert band rehearsals by HHS Band Director Ron Pence while he and other directors were out of town. It was not only a learning opportunity but also an early taste of teaching that she will carry into the drum major role.

“I attribute a lot of the love that I’ve developed for band and a lot of the successes I’ve had to the Homewood community,” Ferderber said. “The band is really the face of the community.”

BYU was her parents’ alma mater and the only school she applied to. She hasn’t declared a major but will pursue a music minor and plays in the college wind symphony. She almost decided not to participate in college-level marching band because of the difference in expectations, but Ferderber said she wanted to put herself out there and see if she liked it. It’s the same mentality she took toward applying to be drum major at the end of her freshman year.

“I’m not majoring in music education or anything, so I know that these years in college are going to be my last in marching band,” she said.

In a marching band, the drum majors have several responsibilities. They help to conduct in practice or performance, making sure the different instrument sections come together fluidly, and they serve as a connection between the directors and the rest of the band to keep them working toward a common goal. Particularly at the collegiate level, Ferderber said there’s plenty of organization and logistics to be done, too.

“It’s the metronome of the band, keeping everybody together,” Ferderber said.

Ferderber was one of many applicants for the three drum major spots. During the audition process, she had to demonstrate her ability to teach marching steps to other students, use voice and whistle commands and conduct both familiar pieces and a score she only heard once. Conducting was both about keeping steady time and each applicant’s ability to “put our own spin on it and add our own style.”

 There were two other freshman applicants who Ferderber knew of, but the rest were older students. Of the three positions, two were given to returning drum majors from the 2016-2017 band, with Ferderber as the only newcomer.

“I was pretty excited. I just felt really good about the whole audition experience,” Ferderber said.

Over the summer, Ferderber and her counterparts will be meeting with band directors to discuss their goals and plans for what to teach the band. Their first performance will be at a home football game in September. As she’s preparing for this step up, Ferderber said it will be challenging not to compare her college band experience with her years in her hometown band.

But her Homewood memories are also something fresh she brings to the table.

“I love learning, and I love working with people, so I think this will be a great opportunity for me to do both and incorporate some of what I love at Homewood,” Ferderber said. “I’ve been worried about feeling young, but I think as long as I’m confident in what I’m doing, it doesn’t matter what other people think of me.”