York band director Michael Pavlik speaks the language of music

Like any great conversation, a conductor and his band communicate back and forth, pushing and pulling toward an expression that includes both participants.

“We talk about how the arts provide this opportunity for you to keep finding a better ‘right answer,’ there’s never one right answer,” said York Community High School Director of Band Michael Pavlik. “There’s a never-ending movement towards getting better, being able to connect and communicate with each other.”

Pavlik, in his fifth year as director after two years of assistant directing at the school, is bringing two special guests for his students Saturday to help them learn more about that conductor-performer dynamic, and how to make the most of that musical communication.

Guests John Hagstrom, a York alumna and current trumpet player with the Chicago Symphony, and Colonel Tim Foley, a retired director of the United States Marine Band in Washington, D.C. will work with the York band for about five hours in a first run for a clinic the two musicians are hoping to offer to other schools in the future.

“Foley is … going to conduct, and Hagstrom is going to play in the band and they’re really going to talk about what happens between conductor and instrumentalist in the group,” Pavlik said. “What needs to be happening with regards to how you communicate with one and other and how you need to listen to one another.”

Pavlik himself has a master's degree in wind band conducting from the University of Northern Colorado, which he earned after getting his bachelors in music education from Elmhurst College in 1996.
The Nebraska native was first drawn to Elmhurst because of the college's jazz program, and its proximity to Chicago's music scene.

He currently plays in a jazz band on the side, and said he always knew he wanted to focus on teaching.
"I feel really, really blessed to be teaching here and working with the kids," he said. "And I love watching the discovery process the kids will go through. And they'll realize that there's something in them that they didn't realize was there, and that's those moments when you know they will never react or even listen to music the same way again."

York’s band students, in addition to learning from Pavlik, have been the beneficiaries of regular guests and clinics.

“We’re very fortunate that in the Chicagoland area, you’ve got some tremendous resources,” he said. “This is an opportunity that, gosh, high school and colleges anywhere would jump at …”

This year, 21 members of the band and orchestra were chosen by the Illinois Music Educators Association to play the All-District Music Festival this fall, in addition to 25 members of the school’s choir and the jazz band’s bassist.

More than 3,000 musicians auditioned for the opportunity. The honor is the high school musician’s equivalent to student athletes competing at the state level.

Pavlik and the school’s chamber music program will also be recognized at the Midwest Clinic, the largest band and orchestra educator clinic in the world next month at the McCormick Place in Chicago.

A York woodwind quartet will perform and Pavlik will speak at the clinic about the program, which encourages its student musicians to perform in the community as volunteer service opportunity.

“These students will volunteer their time to play at assisted living facilities,” he said. “They played at the homeless shelter here in town; they’ve played at the hospital.”