After more than three decades as the band director at Shepard High School — during which he resurrected the program and taught countless students about music — Christopher Pitlik is ready for his final stanza at the school.
Pitlik, 56, will retire after the 2023-24 academic year. He started teaching at Shepard in September of 1991.
There will be no more dealing with frozen instruments at cold football games, no more hoping rainstorms pass so the band can march, and no more 16-hour days leading the band to far-flung competitions around Illinois.
Although he will miss working with the students, “It’s time,” he said. “I’ve been here just a few years.”
Shepard has been part of his life for 42 years. He started there in the fall of 1981 and graduated in 1985.
Pitlik earned bachelor’s degree of arts from Western Illinois in 1989. He followed that in 1991 with his master’s degree of music performance in clarinet and conducting from Illinois State University.
A few months later, teachers he had called “Mister” and “Mrs.” Insisted he use their first names.
“Initially, it was awkward,” Pitlik said with a laugh. “But over time you get comfortable with it.”
He could have taught anywhere, but wanted “to come back home.”
“I knew the potential that was there. I liked my experience in high school. I grew up in Alsip and I knew it was a good school district,” Pitlik said.
But the band program he took over was in shambles.
There were 90 kids in “a pretty vibrant program” when he was a student. In 1991, there were 28 “and 14 of them were flute players,” he said.
“I had one senior who had marched as a freshman. The next two years, he said they just stood on the track and played (during football games),” Pitlik said.
“It took almost four years to get the band up to about 60 kids,” he said. “The more you have the better. … We’ve been anywhere from 75 to 95 players. We have 77 kids this year.”
The band enjoyed “good success in all facets of the program.” It once finished third in its class at the state competition.
Learning to march and play an instrument “is overwhelming for the freshmen, but it’s always amazing how fast they assimilate, mostly because they don’t have a choice,” he said.
Pitlik formerly drew out march designs on paper. He now uses a computer app.
A band director’s job is not limited to making sure marching is correct at halftime of games.
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There’s a holiday concert in December, a winter concert in February and many competitions like the Midwest Music Festival at Lemont High School.
Indoor events do not face challenges associated with football. Namely, the weather.
Heavy rain will keep the band sidelined “because it ruins the instruments.”
“Some of our percussion stuff has electronics associated with it. The woodwinds are not easy to wipe down,” he said. “We try to keep the instruments as dry as possible.”
And when winter visits early?
“The cold does affect the instruments. One year, we were in the playoffs in November. Brass players pushed the valves down and they would freeze. It was 20 degrees. Not good for the instruments,” he said.
Much like the football team that practices in the heat of summer, so does the marching band.
“We start our marching in the third week of July with three evening rehearsals. Then we do a band camp, over 40 hours a week, the last week of July. Now that we’re in school, we practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday after school,” Pitlik said.
The guy with a master’s degree in clarinet does dust it off now and then.
“It’s hard to find the time, but I still do occasionally play. Last year I played a solo with the top band in the winter concert. In jazz band, I’ll play stylistic things with them,” he said.
Every year, high school marching bands have a theme they play at each home football game.
This year, Pitlik selected a “Happily Ever After” theme with music from Disney movies.
“It’s a reflection of my career. I tried to use music from stories that have happy endings,” he said.
“When You Wish Upon A Star” from “Pinocchio” starts the set. Next is the theme song from Kevin Costner’s “Robin Hood” movie.
Then the band plays the song “Speechless” from the live-action “Aladdin” movie starring Will Smith and Naomi Scott.
“The song is about not being silent, not settling for the status quo or being pushed around. For me, that’s where music gives kids a voice. … It’s a song about them being creative. … Music always makes things better,” Pitlik said.
The final song is “You’re Welcome” from “Mulan.”
“That’s kind of a ‘thank you’ from me for the legacy I’m leaving behind, 33 years of kids that I’ve taught and I’ve tried to give positive experiences to,” he said.
Pitlik lives in Frankfort with his wife of 32 years, Dana, a fifth grade teacher in Lemont.
“We met at ISU. She was in the music sorority that took care of distributing all the (band) uniforms,” he said.
Daughter Kendal works in Orlando for Disney. Son Cory attends the University of Memphis, where he plays soccer.
Right now, Pitlik has no special plans for retirement other than “I want to do something where I show up, do what I need to do and leave.”
In other words, quite unlike his current job.
“The hardest job about being a band director is the amount of time. There are multiple days, like when we do a contest, that will be 12 to 16 hours,” Pitlik said.
That, like frozen trumpets, is something he will not miss.
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.