Gilmour Academy Instrumental Music

The Gilmour Academy Pops Ensemble is Gilmour’s premier instrumental ensemble made up of students in Grades 9-12. The Middle School Band includes students in Grades 6-8.
 
The music department prides itself on fostering the Holy Cross charism of inclusiveness. Both ensembles accept any student, any instrument and any ability level. We have students who have played for many years and students who are brand new to their instruments. Over the years we have seen all of the standard band and orchestra instruments plus additions such as the ukulele and bagpipes! We play all types of music, everything from Bach to Rock!

Each student prepared a bio and a musical piece for a "virtual recital." Enjoy!
 
GA Pops Ensemble

    • Louka Babic '23

      Louka has been playing the piano for over 9 years, since 2011. He has fun playing duets with his brother during recitals. He hopes to continue playing and practicing during and after high school.

    • Camden Bajzer '22

      Camden has been playing the guitar for a good 4 months. He enjoys the guitar because it reminds him of his uncle who played the guitar for a known band. He loves to keep learning and trying new things, and the guitar fits that position.

    • Deaglan Bryant '23

      Deaglan started playing the drums 8 years ago and has been rocking it ever since. He enjoys being able to turn on a song and play the drum part to it. Sometimes, he has a tendency to be too loud which makes the conductor mad.

    • Mikayla Fannin '23

      Mikayla has been playing the clarinet for 2 years. She really enjoys playing along with her bandmates in class and having fun. She is always trying to have an open mindset to different types of music and to learn new things.

    • Aidan Flynn '23

      Aidan has been playing the saxophone for 6 years and the piano for 4 years. His favorite song to play on the piano is "The Imperial March." As for saxophone, his favorite song to play is "The Final Countdown."

    • Noah Gaudette '21

      Noah began playing guitar 3 months ago. He was inspired by Aurelio De Rose who is really good at it. Noah loved music before but he never thought of playing an instrument. When he first saw Aurelio playing, it really inspired him to play guitar and be good at it. Noah knew it would be difficult because Aurelio told him that a lot of his friends gave up playing guitar. But Noah didn’t and that is why he can play one of his favorite songs, "Wish You Were Here." Not perfectly, but it is a good start!

    • Andrew Harrington '21

      Andrew has been playing the piano seriously for 4 years. He is deeply inspired by the work of guitarist Luke Robertson.

    • Will Kay '23

      Will has been playing guitar for over 5 months. His favorite song to play on guitar is either "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin or "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas. He wants to keep improving and learn more songs in the future.

    • Madison Maynard '23

      Madison has been playing the piano for over 6 years. She started playing at the Music Settlement but she now takes private lessons. Her family loves to hear her play the piano, especially her grandmother. Piano has been a huge part of Madison's life.

    • Meg Mlinaric '22

      Meg has been playing the alto saxophone for 6 years. Her first teacher was her brother and she has played the bari saxophone before. The bari sax is a very big saxophone. She used to be a part of a band with over 100 people and participated in mass band night at her old school, Riverside. Mass band night is where students from Grades 7-12 who are not in the marching band all come together and have one big half-time performance.

    • Christina Moore '20

      Christina has been playing the trumpet since she inherited it from her cousin in first grade. Some highlights for her have been playing at Mass in grade school, opening up her grade's music show, and playing the national anthem for her neighbors at the end of their Fourth of July parade. However, there were a few bumps in the road, such as when she got braces in seventh grade, making it challenging to play. Overcoming this defeat, Christina has been trying her best to return to her former glory in her trumpet ability by taking three semesters of pops ensemble. Music has always been something close to Christina’s heart so she is so glad to be practicing again.

    • Liam Ottaway '21

      Liam has been playing the piano for over 10 years, having started at age 5 and continuing with classical lessons until high school. Since his sophomore year, Liam has chosen to branch out into other genres of music that interest him more than just classical music. Liam has a talent for being able to play mostly anything he hears right away by using only his ears and his knowledge of the piano's keys and chord progressions.

    • Jayla Pleasant '22

      Jayla has been playing the alto saxophone for 4 months. With the help of her friend, Meg Mlinaric, Jayla has made great strides in learning how to play. Each year, Jayla has taken Pops Ensemble, she has played a different instrument. Freshman year she learned how to play the cello and in her sophomore year, she learned how to play the alto saxophone.

    • Luke Robertson '21

      Luke has been playing guitar on and off for about four years. He never really got into it until he joined the Pops Ensemble class. He likes to play all genres, especially vibey songs, and enjoys when people sit around to listen and sing along.

    • Jimmy Robida '22

      Jimmy has been playing guitar for about 5 months. He enjoys learning about music because it is unlike any other subject in school and there is really never a wrong answer. He had never played or even seriously considered learning an instrument until he joined Pops Ensemble.

    • Harry Rogers '22

      Harry has been playing violin for about 12 years. He played in the Cleveland Youth Orchestra for a couple years and now just plays for fun! Harry has been a member of Pops Ensemble for 2 semesters and he loves it!

    • Sofia Salvino '23

      Sofia has been playing the piano since she was six. She likes playing whatever music she can find and having fun with it. She likes Classic Rock.

    • Brock Sanders '23

      Brock has been playing his guitar for about 10 years. He enjoys playing at home or with his friends. He would like to apologize to his family and the people in the dorm for sometimes playing too loud and waking them up.

    • Desiree Smith '22

      Desiree has been playing the drums for the past 5 months. She has wanted to play the drums for 6 years and finally got the chance to play when she came into Mr. Kilkenney's Pops Ensemble class. She does not just play the drums, but also she has played the piano for the last 8 years. She loves to sing and hopes to create her music in the future and be able to change the world with it.

    • Parker Strauss '21

      Parker has been playing the French horn for 5 years. He enjoys hanging out with friends during rehearsals and seeing them around school. He would like to thank Mr. K for helping him since he started Pops Ensemble as a sophomore and he looks forward to his senior year!

    • Edith Tomasek '23

      Edith started playing the piano when she was in second grade. She stopped because it got boring. In Middle School, she started to revisit the piano and building her skills back up. Pops Ensemble allowed her to have an excuse to practice and get better at reading music. She now realizes that she should have gotten back to playing piano sooner. Edith can also play the saxophone and recorder and she knows how to properly hold a violin.

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Virtual Music Recital

    • Garret Tomasek '20

      Garret has been an active member in the Gilmour Pops Ensemble group throughout the years. He has been playing guitar for eight years and has dabbled in trumpet and piano in his youth. He owns several guitars including a 12-string acoustic. He hopes to one day be able to master flamenco guitar.

    • Connor Underwood '22

      Connor has been playing the guitar for about a year. He used to play the cello for two years in Middle School. He also loves to produce beats on his computer using FL Studio. Connor likes to listen to mostly any music, but his favorite categories are hip hop and rock.

    • Sarah Wei '23

      Sarah practices every day for 30 minutes and enjoys doing so. She thinks it is fun to play not only one instrument but two different ones. She has played the flute for about 2 years and the piano for 4. For her, it is enjoyable to have music every day.

    • Jason Wesley '20

      Jason has been interested in music since he was very young. He started first on the clarinet and then moved to saxophone and then to drums. He loves cookin’ beats and makin' melodies in his free time. He has promised Mr. K to come back and visit even after he wins all of the Grammys.

 
Middle School Band

    • Trevor Bilant ' 26

      Trevor has been playing the trumpet for 2 years. He has acquired the skill of getting his mouthpiece stuck on command. He enjoys practicing as loud as he can while his sister is studying in the room next to him.

    • Molly Boylan '25

      Molly has been playing the flute for 2 or 3 years. She enjoys learning new music. She also likes being next to some friends and learning with them!

    • Kenzie Coyne '24

      Kenzie has been playing uke for about 2 years. She has always had a uke even when very young. She loves the sound and how small it is. She has always preferred strings over anything else.

    • Casie Crawford '24

      Casie has been playing her violin for almost 2 years. She enjoys when her mother compliments her when she improves on learning new songs. She hopes that she can teach her nieces how to play one day and possibly pass on their mother's violin to one of them.

    • Michael Fannin '26

      Michael has been playing saxophone for 2 years. He enjoys playing with his friends. He is very sorry to the people sitting next to him when squeaks.

    • Maddie Figgie '25

      Maddie has been playing the flute for three years. She has played at many different charity events around Cleveland. She will probably keep playing the flute at least until high school.

    • Julia Gainar '24

      Julia has been playing flute for 3 to 4 years. Since 5th grade she has been loving flute and enjoying learning new things about it. Julia took a little break from flute, but once she started again she fell back in love. No one in her family ever played flute so she is the first.

    • Zoe Hayek '25

      Zoe has been playing the piano for around 5 years. She enjoys it the most out of all of the instruments she has tried. She started piano because her sister Elena started it and because she would always do what Elena did. She enjoys playing with her siblings because they all play as well.

    • Scotty Hyland '25

      Scotty has been playing the saxophone for almost 2 years. He has acquired a strong passion for rap music and he enjoys listening to artists such as Eminem, Kid Cudi, Logic, etc. He has considered making hip-hop mixtapes and he even wishes to make a cassette copy of said mixtape.

    • Braden Keller '25

      Braden has been playing the drums for 2 years. He really enjoys it because it just allows him to relax, let go, and just play. He would like to apologize for anybody's eardrums he has destroyed.

    • Gavin Kiebler '25

      Gavin just started playing bass guitar this year. Gavin likes playing with his classmates and Mr. K in class. Gavin has played bass guitar for one band concert. So far, the bass guitar is Gavin’s favorite instrument.

    • AJ Lacroix '25

      AJ has only been playing the bass for a few months. He likes how loud and deep it is. He also likes that lots of famous song melodies are on the bass. He used to play the trumpet and the ukulele. He is also pretty good at accidentally hitting the strings.

    • Timothy Lennon '26

      Tim likes playing his trombone. He also plays two sports, football and basketball. He lives in Ohio and enjoys being outside!

    • Matthew Mirando '25

      Matthew has been playing the drums for almost 2 years. Before that, he played the trumpet for one year. He tried to play the piano until the age of 5, when he gave up because he was terrible at it.

    • Jackson Nolan '24

      Jackson has been playing guitar for about 2 years and loving every aspect of it. He is inspired by musical artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Ritchie Valens. He will continue to play the instrument for the rest of his life.

    • Jack Overman '25

      Jack plays the piano and trumpet. He has played the piano for five years and the trumpet for close to three. He takes lessons for both instruments. In fact, he was only planning to take a few trumpet lessons, but he liked the instrument so much he still takes trumpet lessons and plans to after he's done with Middle School band!

    • Greg Savron '26

      Greg has been playing the piano for two years. Greg's favorite pieces to play are songs that have high energy rhythms. Greg has many songs memorized including the theme to Star Wars, "Ode to Joy," and "Hurry Scurry."

    • Will Scott '26

      Will has been playing piano for 5 years. He also plays drums but he switched to piano for the recital. He doesn't particularly like classical music but he chose a waltz as his recital piece.

    • Annamarie Wiandt '25

      Annamarie has been playing the violin since she was in first grade. She also knows a few songs on the ukulele. She always loves to learn new songs. Annamarie is looking forward to playing in the virtual recital.

    • Jerry Zhu '24

      Jerry has been playing guitar for almost 4 years. The guitar you see in this video is actually his first guitar. He was motivated to start by watching TV shows. He thinks guitar players are very cool, so he decided to learn guitar. While this guitar is not a professional model, he still really enjoys playing it.

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