‘Everyone is a varsity player’

TORRINGTON – Gary Glass is no stranger to the high school and middle school band scene in Torrington.
Glass began teaching in Torrington in 2005 as both the high school and middle school band director before shifting his focus more towards the middle school, while assisting Richard Zigweid and other band directors who have come and gone for THS.
Beginning this fall of 2020, Glass returns to the roll of serving as both band directors of Torrington High School and Torrington Middle School
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to do the high school again, and I hope the students are excited that I’ll be their director,” he said.

As Zigweid moves on to a different position and as the Goshen County School District combines the two positions, Glass hopes to continue to build off what Zigweid accomplished in his time at THS.
“Mr. Zigweid has done a very, very good job, and moving forward, I want to look for more student leadership opportunities, especially since I’ll be counting on kids to help me keep the program being successful,” Glass said. “I have some ideas on how we can improve the pep band and get the kids to enjoy that aspect of the program more and to create music that fans will enjoy some more.”
Glass thinks there will be some changes but not many.
“A lot of what he has done is very good, but there are some things I’m excited to look at again and make better for our students and the community,” he said.
Glass wants to explore the idea of adding marching back into the program if students decide to go that direction in their education at college, but one thing Glass stressed was he wants student input about the changes and the direction of the program.
“Music is one of those activities where you don’t have anyone sitting on the bench,” he said. “You look at varsity sports, it’s just nature of the beast that coaches are looking for kids that can help them win. One of the cool things about music is that everyone is a varsity player. You might have your senior who’s made it to all-state a few times playing right alongside that freshman who is new to the group trying to learn all that music quickly and play notes they’ve never seen before. It’s a pretty cool experience for kids to be in that situation.