When students walked into the band room at the start of this year, they greeted their classmates and picked up their instruments, both of which they have known for several years. However, students were surprised to find one thing missing this year: the familiar face of their long-time band director.
This year, Trevor Meseroll has taken over the role of band director from long-time director Dr. Andria Mullan.
Mullan directed Piedmont’s music program for over a decade, teaching classes to both middle schoolers and high school students.
“[Mullan] cultivated some phenomenal musicians over the years,” senior Miles Antaya said. Antaya has been a part of the band program since he was in sixth grade.
Antaya said that because of Mullan’s move over the summer, Meseroll stepped in.
“To shift from a teacher you’ve had for six years to a new one in the last year of high school feels a bit sudden to say the least,” Antaya said.
Despite the sudden change, students have felt that the transition has been smooth so far.
“I was nervous because I’ve been with Dr. Mullan for so long and I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s been really good and hasn’t been a very tough transition,” senior Will Kennedy said. Like Antaya, Kennedy has been a part of the band program since sixth grade.
Since Mullan directed the band program for so long, Meseroll has been keeping the class structurally similar to how it was under Mullan.
“[Dr. Mullan] set the standards for all the classes, and I’m trying to keep a lot of stuff the same,” Meseroll said.
Meseroll has also worked with students to help smooth the shift.
“[Meseroll] has been asking me and some of the other seniors about how things went on to try to ease the transition, which is very much appreciated,” Kennedy said.
Meseroll has been involved in musical theatre work in the past. He came to PHS as the pianist for the musical Hello, Dolly! last year.
“[Through Hello, Dolly!], I met the musical theater director, Amy Moorhead,” Meseroll said. “The original [job] opening was just for AP music theory, and I heard about that from Amy.”
Meseroll said that the band director position opened later, only three weeks before school started. Meseroll is currently teaching the AP Music Theory class and directing the middle and high school band classes.
Meseroll recently graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in music education and a minor in music theory.
“I think that with his fresh new perspective from Berklee College of Music, he’s definitely going to bring some great new ideas to the class,” Antaya said.
Meseroll is already looking ahead at the future of the band program.
“I think this program has so much potential, and I think it’s going to keep growing, and I’m just excited for that,” Meseroll said.
