EHS Tri-M Music Honor Society, a national program that focuses on shaping leaders in music education and advocacy, started in 2017 and works to support music groups and students. and has started the year off strong by planning fundraising events and brainstorming ways to recruit other interested students. 

“Their goal has been to create more advocacy and awareness within the community and to fundraise to benefit various musical endeavors or organizations,” Heather Trutor, Director of Tri-M and EHS bands said. “ Last year, they raised money for the Vermont Youth Orchestra, and we were able to send a check over to help with scholarships for private lessons, for their private lesson program.”

To continue this success, Tri-M students have planned a number of events for the year in advance. 

“We had a table at the fall concerts for the band and orchestra with donation boxes… and they got over $300 in donations,” she said. “And I figured, math-wise, we’ll send about 30 students every year to All-States [an annual statewide music festival by audition]. So with the money that we fundraised, divided by 30, that’s actually about $27 per student already that we’re able to help with.

This year, Tri-M is introducing a Speaker Series that highlights professional musicians sharing their stories of how they got to where they are now. 

“A cellist is coming in,” Aaron Ho, EHS senior and Secretary of Tri-M said. “We’re just gonna have them speak, and people ask questions and just interact and meet new people.”

Tri-M students have arranged two Speaker Series events so far this year.

“We had one in September, and then in October, we did a student Music Festival panel, and that was with people who had been to Districts, All States, [and] New England’s talking about their experience and kind of just sharing that with people who wanted to know about it,” Hailey Messier, EHS senior and Co-President of Tri-M said.

There is also a community service aspect of Tri-M’s work. 

“We’ll do things like playing during finals or midterms outside of the hallway for stress relief,” Messier said. “Obviously, a lot of kids get pretty nervous about those.”

“Some of the goals are for more participation at some of our events, and also to have more scheduled events farther in advance, so that more people can come,” Gemma Davis, EHS senior and Vice President of Tri-M said.

In December, the students held a board game night and are hoping to host another winter event as well. 

“We’ll have our annual trivia night closer to the springtime/winter,” Messier said. “Last year we did raise a pretty good amount of money for student fees, and hopefully we’ll get more this year.”

As crucial as it is to plan these events well in advance, the group cannot do it without students themselves.

“We always want new students, especially since there’s a large population of seniors this year, so Tri-M is going to be small next year if people don’t join,” Messier said. “So the next time that you can apply is after the first semester ends, which is when we get a lot of our freshmen. So in January, you’ll see some more applications, probably in the music hallway and we’ll go around to advisories to talk about it.”

In accordance with this, Trutor stressed the importance of becoming a Tri-M member. 

“It’s a group where, when you apply, you have to have a certain GPA, you have to demonstrate a level of community service and leadership,” she said. “So it’s one more thing to be proud that you are part of, if you can get into it.” 

The requirements to join Tri-M are not too difficult.

“You just have to have, obviously, good grades,” Messier said. “I think it’s an A or better in music classes, a B average or better in everything else.”

According to Sophia Lu, EHS junior and Historian/Social Media Manager of Tri-M, obtaining the grades is well worth the work. 

“It’s nice to be with a group of other musicians that are really dedicated enough to join an honor society like this,” she said. “So the vibes are pretty great, and then you know about all the great music-related events that are going on in the school.”

Trutor wants to spread the word about Tri-M to as many interested students as possible.

“I think that we don’t get a lot of recognition, and these students are working to make our music program more visible around the school and do more to just advocate for what we do and what we love,” she said.

Aside from supporting the music program at EHS, joining Tri-M also helps to form relationships.

“Tri-M definitely opens doors and opens my eyes to people who I wouldn’t be able to communicate with and connect with in any other way,” Ken Lynch, EHS junior and member of Tri-M said. “I think that it’s good for all of us to open our eyes to other people… [by] communicating within other contexts but having the connected music relationship.”

Similarly, Trutor believes that working with students towards this common interest is such a positive and enriching experience overall.

“I love working with students who want to give back to their community,” she said. “These are students who love making music and love being here, and want to make not just our music department, but our school a better place to be a musician.”