A football player in Walpole, Massachusetts is about as fortunate as a high school student might get. They pick their sport; they put sweat and blood and tears into it; and, inevitably, they are rewarded time after time, by unending news coverage, countless trophies, and, most significantly, hundreds of attendees every Friday night, for even regular season games. An objective observer might wonder if the football program would live on if the stands were only half filled for a few games a year, if there were only one, tired coach instead of a dozen coaches, if hours of struggling weren’t so apparently and frequently rewarded. It’s probable that many players would stick around out of a love of the sport and out of a personal desire for self-betterment– because that is the exact case with the dedicated players and singers of the Walpole High School Music Department.

These teenage musicians showcased, on April 11, hours of rehearsing in front of a meager crowd of a half-filled auditorium. In front of about 200 friends and family members, four groups (Concert Band, Jazz Band, Concert Choir, and Orchestra) played and sang with utmost determination, as though trying to prove the relevance of music to a town as singularly athletic-minded as Walpole. By “relevance of music”, one must note that the groups did not attempt to push any particular genre of music, but all types: the Band rolled through neo-classical, the Choir belted spirituals, the Jazz Band maneuvered through swing and cool jazz, the orchestra triumphed over dreamscapes and film arrangements. All of it was met, to the dismay of both the students, and conductors Michael Falker and Dan McKenzie, by polite clapping, instead of the whooping and cheering that accompany every sack and turnover.

Said senior John Griffin, a newcomer to the chorus, “It was discouraging, for me, in both December and April, to give what I believed to be a thoroughly impressive performance, only to have it met by such a sparsely filled auditorium.” Sophomore drummer Connor Godfrey remarked, in slight contrast, “I actually practiced my Band music a lot this year. It’s more to get better as a drummer than anything; Walpole audiences don’t care what I do. But I do, the Band does, and Mr. Falker does.” Falker, who conducts the Choir, Band, and Orchestra, made similar remarks to both students as they listened to recordings of the concert in his classes during the days following. He noted that he was proud, as an educator, of the improvement between the Winter and Spring Concerts, but was discouraged, as a conductor, by the audience. Senior violinist Praful Mathur commented on this sentiment, saying “I don’t want to sound conceited, but I think we deserve a little bit of attention.”

There is a chance for Walpole’s audiences to redeem themselves, to give the town’s music players the same respect as its football players. The 40th Anniversary of the WHS Pops Night, a favorite event of Falker, the performing groups, and the audiences, is on May 11. Pops Night has a similarly wide musical array to the year’s other performances, but with a focus on pop, rock, showtunes, TV themes, jazz standards, and movie soundtracks. The Pops Night performance will differ from the Spring Concert in that include three familiar pop songs by the select Jazz Choir, and will likewise feature new songs by the four groups that performed during the Spring Concert. The event will take place in a flamboyantly decorated gym, and will include home-made baked goods, and thank-you’s to the perennially under-appreciated Music Directors. If all goes well, the event might be more than half-filled, with audience members who are more than half-enthusiastic.

In short, Walpole’s music students give the same blood, sweat, and tears that football players do. They are, however, unfortunate: they have been drawn to an artistic discipline in a physical town. By no fault of their own, they are deterred from pursuing a craft that brings them joy. If this humble article reaches any football fan, however, that person should not take it as condemnation of football; instead, look at it as exultation of a group of students to a similar level as another group, more often exulted group. They should look at it, also, as an entreatment, a groveling on hands and knees, for attendance on Friday, May 11. Walpole High School’s music students, music directors, and music patrons deserve much more than they get.