Help along a musical journey: GTMF Musician Residency at JHHS – JH News&Guide

At Jackson Hole High School, 1:50 p.m. Wednesday is a flex period — an hour when students aren’t in a specific class but can get one-on-one help in math or Spanish, for example, get homework out of the way, or take a test they might miss due to an away football game.

Last week in Room 1119, 20-plus members of the school’s concert band came together for an extra rehearsal ahead of a mid-term performance. They arrived in groups and singles — saxophonists, clarinetists, a couple trumpeters, one flautist, one trombonist, one percussionist — took their instruments out of their cases while gabbing with each other, tuned up, maybe played a tricky musical phrase over and over before their teacher, Collin Binko, called for order.

Among the teenaged musicians were a couple of new faces: clarinetist Stephanie Key and trombonist Jay Evans, both members of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra who had returned to the valley to participate in a new residency program. Ashley Hernandez-Salinas, community engagement manager for the festival, watched from the back of the room, ready to lend a hand when she could.

Binko raised his baton and the group played a section from one of the pieces it’s working on. But something wasn’t quite right — the trumpets hadn’t quite nailed the rhythm in a couple measures — so he asked Key to conduct while he grabbed a spare horn and sat with them to help.

“This is not my first instrument,” he said with a self-effacing grin, but he’s competent enough to help his students get it right, and after a few more run-throughs the whole group sounded much better, more together.

“Good!” Binko said. “Good job looking across sections.”

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