Unexpected Events of the “Townies” Band Director, John Pavao

His mother said “You can not make a good living being a musician”. But that did not deter John Pavao’s passion for music. He was a member of the church choir since age 13 and played the French horn, baritone, and tuba in the Joseph Case High School (Swansea, MA) band. On weekends and special occasions, he and his friends were the house band at the Halfway House, a restaurant located half way between Bristol and Warren.

In November 1952, John hitchhiked a ride from Swansea to East Providence to tour the new East Providence Senior High School (EPHS) on Pawtucket Ave. A separate wing of the school was dedicated for the music department. It included sound proof practice rooms, a state of the art recording studio to create 78 rpm vinyl records, music library, instrument storage lockers, and a large practice room for the choir and band.

On Senior Class Day, in 1953, Mr. Joe Raposo (who later was the director of music for an educational program for children called Sesame Street) handed John a scholarship from the Junior Music Club in Fall River, MA. This enabled John to pursue BA degrees in elementary education and music education at the University of Mass. Lowell. In his senior year, when his college roommate could not attend the interview, he encouraged John to take his place. John hitchhiked a ride with an American Book salesman from Boston to E. Providence. He let John out by the School Administration Office (located in front of the old Central High School, then the Central Junior High, on Taunton Ave., Broadway, and Whelden Ave.) and told John to say “Hello” to Ed for him.

In the spring of 1959, school superintendent Edward R. Martin hired Ms. Virginia (Yuro) Walker to teach music classes and the girls’ general chorus. Later she created a new choir to be called the Choraleers. She worked with Dr. Stephan Farnum, the supervisor of music for the secondary schools and the band director at EP High School. In the Fall of 1959, Mr. John Pavao was hired to teach music theory, harmony, and history classes. Students were given a period in history and instructed to write a term paper about that musical era. John read and graded the reports. He assisted Dr. Farnum with the band and class activities. He would pull students out of class and administer the Farnum and Watkins test so students could be ranked in their musical talent (and included in the compiled data base for statistical analysis) and placement in the EPHS band, that is, where they sat on stage, in the first or second chair. John directed the boys’ choir and created several all male subchoirs. When Miss Yuro left EPHS to return to college, John directed the girls’ choirs. With all this experience, John seamlessly continued to lead the band program when Dr. Farnum retired in 1969 after 34 years in the EP school system. Band members nicknamed and addressed the new band director as “JP”.

Students received graduation credit for participation in the band and chorus. Additional choral teachers were hired. Mr. Richard Fairbanks taught from 1961 to 1989 and Ms. Paula (Haven) Fontes taught from 1970 to 1989. Under their direction, the female choirs, the Choraleers, the Meistersingers, and Sophomore Girls’ Chorus as well as the men’s choir produced many entertaining public concerts and won many music competitions. For many years, Paula, John, and Richard combined their talents to produce numerous excellent musicals.

Stephen Millard recalls “In the Spring of 1965, East Providence Senior High School presented a production of the musical, “South Pacific” directed by Mr. John Pavao. During one scene, the music score assigns the oboe player to perform an improvisation of dots and dashes to simulate Morse code messages. Our rehearsals on this had run smoothly. However, on opening night, the oboeist decided to have some fun and tooted off a stream of foul words he had carefully transcribed into Morse code. Many other orchestra members had been tipped off ahead of time about the prank. However, they watched not with glee but in horror as Mr. Pavao’s face turn red, then redder, and then suddenly we all realized, “Mr. Pavao knows Morse code!” Needless to say, the oboe guy cleaned up his ad lib solo for the following performances, under the very watchful eye of Maestro Pavao.”

To become a member of the band, the Farnum Aptitude test was given in the sixth grade to identify students who did not know they had musical potential. Selected students could then be in the band for their junior high and senior high school years. The band director always has to look ahead to maintain the band’s instrument inventory and players as new sophomore students come and senior students graduate. One student, who transferred to the Vocational School in the mid-1970s from a private school, didn’t take the test in the sixth grade, so he was not considered to be a band member. This student hung around the band room and helped when he could. He recognized many of the scores when he organized the sheet music in the band library and watched JP clean and repair instruments. Needing a tuba player, JP encouraged the student to practice with the other tuba players. Mike not only became an excellent tuba player and asset to the EPHS band, his life revolved around the tuba. He was “Tuba” the clown in the R&BB Circus, lives on Tuba Lane, has phone number ### –TUBA, and still uses the tuba in his acting career.

There are actually several school bands. Depending on the instrument, students may be in one or more bands. Some students played several instruments so they could be in several bands. Orchestra. Small groups of players as ensembles: woodwind, brass, drum. Stage band. Jass band. The most popular is the marching band that played at school pep rallies, parades, and football games at W. B. Pierce Memorial Stadium (Pierce Field).

One band student recalls injuring his foot, so he could not be in the half-time show. He was unexpectedly asked to be the announcer. He introduced the band, drum major, director, color guard, titles of the songs, and described the “pictures” the members made as they marched and played music. The simple letters “EP” might became the shape of a saxophone, RI anchor, or in 1976, RI’76. Instead of being one of the band members moving to create the formations, he watched the live event. When the band performed the “wheels of motion” formation, he shared details and awe with the audience. The wheels on the choo choo train rotated as the train moved across the field. For Ron it was a great memorable experience.

The band won many awards for their performances. In the mid-1980s after playing at an EP game, the band attended other schools’ games to play at half-time. The musical band was expanded from just a color guard to include twirling flags and rifles. JP had to choreograph the musicians and dancers to create new half-time shows. Students and groups competed in the State and New England Music Festivals each year for medals and to be in the All-State Band. Band trophies were so numerous they filled the display cases in back of the high school auditorium. In October (2014), Mr. Pavao was inducted into the East Providence High School Hall of Fame as an honorary Townie. After 28 years of service to the EP school system, he is grateful and humbled that former students, co-workers, and friends nominated him to show their appreciation for his efforts and time devoted to making life better with music.

An informal drop-in will be held from 1-4 pm on Monday, December 29th at a local restaurant for former band and chorus students and friends to celebrate Mr. Pavao’s EPHS Hall of Fame award. Health and weather permitting, current details will be posted at www.TowniesEPHS1978.blogspot.com. Hope to see many JP fans there!

(digsEPhistory@hotmail.com)