For senior Cory Lathwell, high school has been bookended by musical trips to Disney World.
Going to Florida as a freshman, the trip was one of his first memories of authentically loving music. Cory traveled with FHC’s band, in which he plays the tuba. In addition to making a new best friend, he and fellow bandmates marched through the theme park performing their practiced pieces.
While Cory has been a part of band since sixth grade, he began to notice the bonds it creates once he reached high school.
“Music in general offers a more cohesive sense of community than other classes,” Cory said. “[We are] actually forced to work together to actually make music sound good. In marching band, we literally have to work together so we don’t kill each other.”
Growing up, instruments and songs characterized Cory’s childhood. He was often around his mom and grandma, both of whom regularly played his family’s piano. However, because of his older brother, Cory started learning to play music himself.
For a few years, Cory’s brother played the trumpet for school. While it was never his brother’s passion, his brief involvement prompted Cory to take up band, as he wanted to follow in his sibling’s footsteps. Now, as a senior, Cory is a section leader, helping to lead the program.
The tuba is Cory’s forte, as it was the first instrument that he learned to play. However, he has learned the bass trombone as well, which he plays in FHC’s jazz band. In addition, Cory joined the school’s beloved drumline each fall, contributing the cymbals for their fifth-quarter performances.
Being immensely immersed in music, Cory has noticed that there are non-musical benefits to learning an instrument.
“[Playing an instrument] helps you develop techniques to just learn in general,” Cory said. “You have to practice all the time, so it helps you to focus on your homework better or projects. It offers a more fun way of learning things that you can carry over into a lot of other stuff, whether you do music after [high]school or not.”
In addition to the FHC bands, Cory is a member of yet another instrumental group—St. Cecilia’s philharmonic orchestra. In this group, Cory plays his signature tuba alongside fellow high schoolers. Unlike at FHC, brass, woodwind, percussion, and string musicians all play together.
The orchestra focuses on classical pieces—artists like Mozart, Beethoven, and other big names. In contrast to the school bands, the music typically stays in the ranges of popular music, marches, and jazz (for jazz band, of course).
Because of the different experiences that it offers, Cory enjoys the orchestra most.
“[St. Cecilia’s orchestra] is string instruments and band instruments,” Cory said. “[At FHC], I don’t get a chance to do that, really. There, it’s more people who are intentionally going out of their house to sign up for this. [At school], sometimes some people don’t care, they just kind of are in it for the people. There, it’s complete strangers in it for the music.”
Playing multiple instruments, Cory’s days are undeniably filled with music. However, for Cory, four musical groups were too few.
As a senior, Cory has added choir to his already impressive musical resume. With an already full schedule during the day, he joined FHC’s jazz choir, Central Singers, which meets during zero hour. Previously, students were required to be a member of FHC’s general choir to be eligible for the Central Singers. Now, students only have to be a member of a music class. Because of this, Cory was able to join as a bass singer.
However, his choir membership was only made possible because of the encouragement from his girlfriend, senior Anneke Anglin.
“I was considering [joining Central Singers] because I thought it would be really fun, and then Anneke really encouraged me to do it,” Cory said. “She’s let me open up more with my singing. I used to think my singing voice was awful, and I would never sing ever.”
Anneke, another member of the band, helped Cory further develop a love for music. Notably, as they both enjoy pop music, Cory now listens to artists like Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Beabadoobee more often. In general, he finds pop music to have more poetic lyrics and better diction than other genres.
Pop music, as Cory puts it, is simply fun.
After Anneke’s support convinced Cory to join choir, he developed new friendships and got to sing at Disney Springs this past month. At the moment, choir is his favorite musical group, as he gets to try an entirely new discipline.
“I am much more confident with my singing [since joining Central Singers],” Cory said. “I have crazy anxiety, so singing has always been something that I’ve been really anxious about. It’s taken away a lot of my anxiety to actually be in choir and be able to learn.”
With May’s graduation date looming closer, Cory will soon have to say goodbye to his various musical groups at FHC. However, even though he’s forced to move on, his involvement in music will undoubtedly persist.
Next year, Cory plans to attend Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Obviously, the next few years aren’t set in stone, and Cory is keeping the possibility of a music-related minor in the back of his mind. However, right now, he is certain he will be involved with one of MSU’s bands, whether marching, concert, or otherwise.
Until graduation, Cory will continue to be involved in choir and a leader in the band. He encourages others to try a music program, whether they be incoming freshmen or seniors looking to join another music group as he was.
“[I would encourage someone to join an FHC music program] because of the community it offers,” Cory said. “And then just learning. It’s so fun to be able to play an instrument. It’s so fun to learn an instrument, whether it’s just one or however many I play.”
