As someone with hopes of pursuing music as a potential profession, band senior Charles Comiter knew he wanted nothing more than to devote his whole summer to expanding his skill set and exposure to the world of music. With intentions of pushing himself and his musical capabilities farther than ever before, Comiter flew up to Lenox, Massachusetts, where he attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), the high school division of the Tanglewood Music Festival.

“[I chose to attend Tanglewood] because it is very prestigious and the level of playing is very high,” Comiter said. “The level of other students there really pushed me to work very hard.”

Going into the six week long program, Comiter hoped to gain a better understanding of percussion technique and musicianship, along with a greater knowledge of musicianship in general.

“On a typical day at Tanglewood I would wake up, chug coffee and breakfast, attend an hour log sectional rehearsal, a three hour large ensemble rehearsal and then go to lunch,” Comiter said. “After I would have a few hours of personal practice, an hour or two of percussion ensemble rehearsal. In the evenings, I would have a few more hours for personal practice, I would chug dinner, go to a concert given by the Boston symphony orchestra, as well as, practice for another hour. Every waking second was filled with music until I went to sleep.”

Tanglewood enabled Comiter to acquire a multitude of skills including how to wrap mallets, much more proper techniques for percussion instruments, different ideas for phrasing, how to blend in an ensemble better and even how to successfully pursue a financially stable career as a classical musician.

“This program showed me the world of excellent musicians and the potential for music when a lot of time is invested into it,” Comiter said. “It not only made me want to pursue music as a career, but it also gave me the drive, work ethic and character to work extremely hard in music.”