A high school band director challenged his students to a tall order: play 100 times collectively in chamber ensembles in their community throughout the school year. What began as a service learning project aimed at getting his students to embrace chamber music and share their music with the community suddenly became something much more: as students played at nursing homes, homeless shelters, and other community events, a sense of purpose in each and every musician took on a life of its own.
Visit https://sites.google.com/elmhurst205.org/yorkmusicoutreachproject/home for more information
Michael Pavlik
- Biographical Information
Michael Pavlik is director of bands at York Community High School in Elmhurst, IL. He received his Bachelor of Music Education and Certificate in Trumpet Performance from Elmhurst College and earned a Master in Wind Band Conducting from the University of Northern Colorado. Both his Junior High School bands and his High School bands have received invitations to perform at the prestigious Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Pavlik received six “Citation of Excellence” awards from the National Band Association for Outstanding Contribution to Band.
York recently earned the distinction of being selected as one of the top three high school performing arts programs in the country by the GRAMMY foundation. The band program is committed to community outreach and social justice issues. Small ensembles from York regularly perform at local retirement homes, hospitals, and homeless shelters throughout the school year. In 2012, Michael presented a clinic on York’s year-long chamber ensemble at The Midwest Clinic.