Starting with his Bachelors at Messiah University in 2017 and earning his masters at American Band College of Central Washington University in 2022, Mr. Campopiano is now the new Band Director here at Boyertown. “I taught my first two years in Pottsgrove school district then I spent five years over in the Conewago school district out near Harrisburg,” Mr. Campopiano recalls.
Mr. Campopiano cited both his interactions with BASH while he was working at Pottsgrove, and his association with the former band director, Mr. Langdon, as reasons that he decided to work here. “I knew Mr. Langdon pretty well who obviously was in this position before me. I think there’s a really good culture here in both the school and in the [music] program.”
Mr. Campopiano claims that some mentors he had throughout middle and high school helped him answer what he said was his “calling” to teach band. He also made mention of the different opportunities that being a band student had supplied him; like being able to travel and perform for different concerts.
“Whether it be a performer, a conductor, whatever. There’s a piece of music or specific performance that just really hits home for you emotionally and it’s hard to describe because it’s kind of an out of body experience. It’s one of those things that’s just really surreal and it just teaches you so much more about yourself, and your values, and your expressiveness that maybe you didn’t recognize or you didn’t know it existed.” “It’s a skill and an experience that is hard to teach in another class and I just had enough of those experiences that I felt like it was really important that I had the opportunity to give those same experiences, if not better experiences, to the students that I would get to interact with as a teacher.”
“I think [my favorite part of teaching is] the music making,” Mr. Campopiano said. “I get to start my day at 8:12 in the morning with wind ensemble and be making music, and then third period symphonic band comes in and we keep making music, and then percussion class comes in and we keep making music. Like the great thing about this specific school district in this specific job is that I get to do that not once per day, but four or five times a day with a variety of different classes. That makes it really rewarding because we’re getting to have those experiences and teach those skills all throughout the day.”
When asked what challenges he may have experienced during his first transitional year into BASH, Mr. Campopiano responded by saying, “it’s always tough to learn how things have been done. I know of the school I know of the culture and of the program, but I don’t necessarily know about all the inner workings, and I don’t always know about things that are super important to this community and these students. So I think this year is a lot of learning what do we find important as Boyertown Area High School, what do our band students expect out of their programs and their concerts and their performances.
While Mr. Campopiano has denied plans for immediate changes, he hasn’t ruled out the possibility for future changes to the program after he learns more about the program.
Turning to look directly into the camera, Mr. Campopiano wanted to make sure students know that, “it’s never too late to join band if you want to do it! Maybe somebody played in middle school and they haven’t played for a while, or maybe they played for a year of high school and kind of drifted away and they want to come back, like my door is always open. Music is for everybody, not just for people who are really good at it or people who have done it consistently. If this is something you want to do you should come talk to me and we will either get in your schedule for next year or talk about other opportunities like jazz band or marching unit that exist for you.”
Finally Mr. Campopiano let us know that outside of school most of his time is consumed by his two rescued dogs, Sofie and Dean, Marching Band, and being a circuit administrator for an indoor circuit where he judge indoor color guards, percussion, ensembles, jazz, and band.
We’re happy to have Mr. Campopiano here at BASH and look forward to what him and the band unit have in store this year.
