My Break of Reality

by Jack Lewis, Scotia, NY

When the first note of distortion rang out from the cello, I heard the entirety of the high school student body erupt behind me, sending a chill up my spine. I watched as the band started their first piece, attacking the strings deliberately and precisely, with both grace and ferocity, eliciting a sound one would never expect to come from three cellos. For weeks I had been working towards that very moment: when the band “Break of Reality,” a rock band composed of three cellists and a percussionist that I arranged to bring to my school, would play a concert for over 1,000 students. After serving in student government for three years, I wanted to give the students at my school something special—something that they would always remember, and something that might, just might open their minds to such new ideas as “heavy cello thunder.”

After a four-month process, culminating in a three-page formal proposal that I distributed to various school organizations asking for permission and money to hold the concert, I was more than relieved when the Student Senate voted unanimously to hold the concert, regardless of what other funding we might receive. But I was nervous; I had gone out on a limb in bringing this band to my school. Teenagers are not always the most open-minded or respectful people when it comes to being an audience, which made me very cautious in asking the school to spend its money on a band of cellos; however, I was confident that this experience would be so unique and engaging that nearly every student would enjoy it.
It turned out I was right. Normally the iPods are out before an assembly introduction is finished, but not this time. While there was a slight hesitation as the band came out on stage, as soon as the music started it was difficult to hear the band over the students’ cheering. Even better than the feeling I got from the first tantalizing note was the rush I felt when I saw my friends and peers really enjoying an experience that I had helped create. I was able to look at their faces and see that they were not only moved by the driving rhythms of the music, but were learning that it’s okay to “break away from reality”—from traditional expectations. Before that day, the preconceived “reality” had been that cellos played classical music, not the “Deftones” and “Slayer” covers the students heard at the concert. The “reality” had been that cellists didn’t stand at the edge of a stage and rip a solo that would rival any riff you would hear from a guitarist. The “reality” had been that these things did not happen in our high school. If nothing else, the experience of hearing a unique band playing in such a familiar environment may have planted a seed of possibility in each student that just might grow into some new appreciation or understanding.

While watching a rock concert might seem like some type of superficial enjoyment, this concert was anything but superficial. That day, students walked into the auditorium not knowing what to expect. Then they saw cellos, and I know that for many people, that flipped a switch. As one student commented, “I thought we were going to have a real band play.” It was at that point that everybody realized why the band calls itself “Break of Reality.” While I was one of the few people in the auditorium who knew how badly the band was about to devastate student’s preconceptions, I never could have expected such an engaging performance or such an accepting and enthusiastic response from the students. Let’s just say that playing the cello is no longer a joke at my school. What happened in the auditorium that day amazed me. I saw my friends’ minds opening up en masse. I saw people screaming for a band at which they had previously laughed. That day, I saw my peers learning to accept new ideas, and it made me feel absolutely great to have helped bring it about.

Thanks to “Break of Reality” and about a thousand of my peers, I learned something very important: I can make a difference. I realize that I have a passion for encouraging people to keep their minds open to new ideas, and if I take a small risk and take some action toward what I believe, great things can happen. This concert helped me gain a new faith in others, and in myself. I was nervous that people wouldn’t give my “strange” idea a chance—that it would just be rejected because it was different. But they didn’t: instead people embraced the idea of the concert and the music itself, subsequently helping me to learn to not underestimate my peers. It also helped me to appreciate what type of change one person can bring about. Without my advocacy, the concert never would have happened. If the concert had never happened and if the band hadn’t played, many students would never have heard three cellos and a percussionist playing Metallica at their high school. If that isn’t a unique learning experience, then I just don’t know what is! Having the band play was more that just a concert—it was an experience that opened the minds of many students at my school. While I was not the one on stage that afternoon, I feel that I was able to play a key role in the learning that took place, and because of my efforts, some people will never look at a cello the same way ever again.

A flashback to Newtown, CT

by Chris Thibdeau

On November 19^th, the band and I gave a series of workshops and a performance at my hometown of Newtown, Connecticut. It was quite an experience. First of all, there was this odd sense of time displacement, as the members of Break of Reality from my college years were visiting where so many of my high school memories took place. I was also absorbing the many changes to the town that had occurred over the last five years.

Our first workshops were at the Reed Intermediate School. We did two presentations for several hundred fourth and fifth graders. The kids were very enthusiastic and had wonderful questions, like, "Is there such thing as an electric triangle?" and "When are you guys playing at Madison Square Garden?" These first two workshops did not bring back any memories. When I was in school at Newtown, the Reed Intermediate School didn't even exist; it was built while I was at Eastman. However I did run into my old elementary school math and chemistry teachers,, my sister's old teacher, and a few friends from school.

Things got a little weird when we gave our presentation at my old high school. Standing in the main hall of the high school, I felt almost as if I had never left. I spent four years at Newtown High School, and there were many memories and special times for me. Walking down the music hallway to the band room, Erin, Patrick, Ivan, and Jesse, got to see pictures of me hanging on the walls. High School pictures of the old musicals and other productions lined the corridor, and we had a few good laughs.

While giving the workshop for the high school students, there was an odd feeling of coming home. Presenting to the kids with my former high school music teacher, Michelle Hiscavitch in the audience, I felt as if I had come full circle. I grew up here, went away for school, and now I was returning to give something back to the community.

The most rewarding experience of our day visit, at least for me, was our nigh concert given at the Reed School. More than two hundred people showed up, and the audience was filled with family, friends, and people I haven't seen in years. Most importantly, I got to thank my parents at the end of the show. They have been amazing to me and the band, and have always been supportive for us all.

Coming back home was a great experience – I hope that we get to return for a full electric show at the high school auditorium. Until then, I'm looking forward to Texas, where Ivan gets to have a similar experience, and bring the band to his home of Victoria, Texas!