Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, the MFS arts department launched its first student-led music ensemble: the Popular Music Ensemble. 

While the school has always offered a wide range of classes and clubs to reflect the students’ diverse interests, this new program takes their commitment a step further. Designed for students who are passionate about performing in a smaller and collaborative setting, the ensemble brings together seven dedicated musicians ready to form their own band and perform together in a lively environment.

An idea for a student-led ensemble or band was first proposed by Brian Howard, Instrumental Music Director, before the 2022-2023 school year; however, Howard wasn’t sure if there would be enough interest to begin the new program immediately. The ensemble was fully integrated as a minor course during the US AIII block at the beginning of this school year.

“At first, it didn’t look like there was going to be the right number of people playing the right number of kinds of instruments to make it work,” said Howard.

Eventually, the ensemble found US students to play all the instruments.

The band performed for the first time at the MFS Winter Concert in December 2025. Before performing at any concerts, Howard must approve of the band’s repertoire for the show.

He noted a clear shift in their energy during rehearsals; moments of laughter and creativity were balanced with determination and collaboration, leading to a more balanced and stronger performance.

“It was interesting to watch them get serious … [they] figured out how to work together, and that was the whole idea that I had in my head,” said Howard.

Lead Liam Richards ’26 has been playing the guitar for four years. Richards shared that he likes “having the class time to go noodle on the guitar, hang out with [his] guys and play some music.”

“The first performance with the band to me was really special. I don’t think anyone was expecting us to put on the performance that we did, so being able to shock people was really cool,” said Richards. 

He also enjoys the ensemble’s group dynamic, where each member plays an equal role. 

“Every decision is [made] by the guys in the band, not really Brian. All Brian does is just approve it and say, ‘Yeah, you’re good to go,’” said Richards.

Ayden Katsikis ’27 is the group’s lead, and he plays guitar. He has been playing guitar for eight years and singing for three. 

Katsikis also enjoys the group’s dynamic and teamwork. “You get to learn a lot about the other people and learn how to collaborate with them,” he said.

So far, Katsikis’s favorite experience with the ensemble has been performing at the Winter Concert. 

“Once I started singing, and once everybody came on, just hearing the applause, and hearing everybody cheer us on, that was kind of the best,” he said.

Judah Galler ’28 is the ensemble’s bass player.

“I play bass for the band, but I’ve been playing [the guitar] for around six years,” said Galler.

He finds being a part of the ensemble “fun and relaxing,” as it’s “different” from the “directed” nature of the other school’s musical groups.

Despite Galler’s experience as a guitarist, he volunteered to play the bass because there were “too many guitar players,” said Howard.

Janiel Garcia ’26 plays both keyboard and piano, but primarily plays piano for the band. 

“[Playing music] is kind of like a way for me to be creative, in a way, because I’m not really artistic drawing-wise, so it was how I released my creativity,” said Garcia.

Garcia described the ensemble as a “big group of friends who just want to get together and play music [they] enjoy.”

Aarav Shah ’26 plays the drum kit; after learning the snare drum nine years ago, his interest has expanded to encompass the entire drum kit.

“I really love the drums because [they allow] you to change the feel of [a] song, change the tempo, and change how the song is perceived,” said Shah, who has experience with playing the piano and guitar, too.

Shah appreciated the freedom that the ensemble gives him and the rest of the group to be creative.

“I’d say it’s really different from other music groups at MFS, because there’s no sheet music, there’s no director, there’s no conductor; all of it is just listening and us playing it by ear every song,” he said.

Shah continued to say that the ensemble has allowed him to play the drums more “because it’s given [him] a group of people who are so talented at the instruments that they play … and make each song that [they] play [their] own.”

As four of the members are seniors, the size of the group will decrease significantly next year. 

“I’m really happy with the arrangement we have now … so it’s going to be interesting to see how it continues next year, if it continues next year,” said Katsikis. 

Piano player Declan Copper ’27 and auxiliary percussion and drum kit player Gabe Hutnik ’28 joined the ensemble in the spring semester. The ensemble has also recruited MFS Singers Karrington Colon ’27 and Morgan Krasner ’27 to be their vocalists; Colon and Krasner aren’t enrolled in the minor class, but they join the ensemble when they meet during their free period as guests.

Howard is hopeful that the program will continue in the future.

“It’s no different than what they call it in athletics. This will be a rebuilding year,” said Howard.

The band hopes that more members will join after seeing its success this year and uphold their standard for high-quality music moving forward.

Note: corrected on 3/18/26 to update student names and roles, as well as Brian Howard’s title.