Jeannette junior will debut, direct original composition at community band concert

When Joanne Bortz gets home, there’s no telling what instrument her son Logan might be playing.

“There’s at least 20 different instruments in our house,” she said. “When he’s not with one of several bands he plays in, there’s just constantly music in the house.”

Logan, 16, is a junior at Jeannette Junior-Senior High School, and has been playing music since he picked up his first drum in fourth grade. Later this month, a piece he composed — “Blastoff” — will be performed by the Jeannette Community Band at its Oktoberfest concert on Oct. 12.

Writing songs is not new for Bortz — he’s been doing that while playing bass in alternative-rock band Tomfoolery for the past couple of years — but writing for a full concert band is a new and challenging experience, he said.

“I started very minimally when I was about 13, with a few drum line pieces, and that evolved into writing for a full band about a year later,” Bortz said. “‘Blastoff’ is the first piece I’ve written for concert band, and I didn’t really know what my initial goal was for the piece. It was kind of a test run to see what I could do with that kind of musical composition.”

After about 18 months of tweaking the score, editing his work and sitting at the piano — and with some help from Jeannette Band Director Maria Brecht — Bortz finished the piece and then had to figure out what to do with it.

“It’s kind of a difficult piece, and I didn’t know if one of the school ensembles would want to take it on,” Bortz said. “I’m in the community band, and there are a lot of professional musicians there. And Director Ron Stemple said we could definitely include the piece in a concert.”

What Bortz wasn’t expecting was to be the one conducting it, even though he is currently a drum major in the Jeannette Jayhawks Marching Band.

“My first rehearsal conducting it, I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “It’s a little intimidating being 16 years old and getting up in front of a bunch of professional musicians and kind of taking charge.”

The community band’s Oktoberfest show will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Jeannette American Legion, 109 S. Fifth St. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Attendees will be seated in a new, beer hall-style arrangement of tables and hot dogs, sauerkraut, soft pretzels and homemade baked goods will be for sale.

The band is organizing this concert as a benefit for The Carl Masciantonio Memorial Scholarship Fund. In addition to a 50/50 and an opportunity to win door prizes, a Chinese auction will be held with a variety of baskets as prizes. All proceeds will benefit the scholarship fund. There have been 15 scholarships awarded since 2018 to local high school students pursuing a degree in music.

Bortz’s mother said she is excited for her son’s composing debut.

“It’s been incredible to watch him start from fourth grade band and progress to where he’s at now,” she said. “He’s written three concert band pieces by now, and every day he creates more music. I know he’s been waiting for this moment to debut ‘Blastoff.’”

For more on the Jeannette Community Band, see JCBweb.com.