It may be 8 a.m. at a middle school, but when you step into the Band Club at DSST: Conservatory Green, you can feel the energy. Students are eagerly chatting, tuning instruments, and getting ready to play, each one excited about the music they’re about to create. For Dave Balestrini, the club’s founder and a lifelong musician, this vibrant community is exactly what he hoped to build when he first launched the club.

“I grew up playing my grandfather’s alto saxophone,” Balestrini said. “I started in fifth grade and just dove into everything I could — concert band, marching band, jazz band. I was even in a jazz quintet that played at hotels around town. My band director gave us space to be there whenever we wanted, and I basically lived in that band room. Music became a place I belonged, and I wanted to bring that same opportunity to my students.”

It was that desire to foster connection and joy through music that inspired him to start the Band Club. and the impact has been profound.

For many of Balestrini’s students, the Band Club is more than just a space to practice — it’s a community where they feel at home.

“A lot of kids have found a ‘community’ to join,” he said. “Students have made close friends they might not have made otherwise, and they have a space to practice and experiment with music together. I even have some students who are inseparable from their instruments, carrying them from class to class and playing at every chance they get, to the point that I have definitely had to encourage some students not to play in other classes.”

Beyond the joy it brings, Balestini firmly believes that music is a powerful educational tool.

“I have students who may not achieve high marks in their general classes, but they work really hard to master music on their instrument,” he said. “Studying an instrument leads to higher cognitive functions, like helping students think, learn, remember, reason and pay attention … Studies show participating in music improves academic performance on exams in math, science and English. It also builds good study habits, perseverance, creative thinking, collaboration, listening and cultural awareness.”

For Balestrini, music is “part of the human identity,” where students can not only learn valuable life skills but also “build community, foster creativity, and communicate complex thoughts and emotions.”

“Music can grip a group of people into releasing their inhibitions, or it can make you clam up and keep to yourself,” said Balestrini. “It can make you feel the entire spectrum of emotions with just sound. Making music is an endeavor that will never end — it’s ingrained into our very beings.”

Balestrini has loved sharing this passion and joy with his students as well as the team who helped create the music program from the ground up.

“Band and music in schools require a lot of time, effort, and funds to do well,” he said. “I could not be successful without the help of my administration, fellow staff, families and, of course, the students.”

Dave’s vision for the Band Club is both simple and ambitious.

“I just want my students to be able to participate in and enjoy music,” he shared. “I’d love to see them have the option to participate throughout their academic lives. It would be amazing to see our high school start a band program or even partner with the Northfield music program.”

As Balestrini continues to build the DSST: Conservatory Green Middle School Band Club, his students are finding their rhythm, creating community, and discovering a lifelong love for music — one note at a time.