New Braden River Middle teacher takes concert band to superior ratings

Ethan Hacker's passion for music and teaching has struck a chord with his students at Braden River Middle School.

Only a year after he took over his current position, his first teaching job, Hacker has taken the school's concert band to a high level.

His band received the coveted "superior rating" at the 2025 Florida Band Masters Musical Performance Assessment held at Manatee High School March 11. 

Jordan Ellis-Teris, who plays the oboe, is an eighth grader who has been in band since sixth grade. He said Hacker has brought everyone together, especially after the program has had three previous band directors in two years. 

“I feel like last year we had better individual players, but this year Mr. Hacker has been focused on tone and blend and playing together,” Ellis-Teris said.

Ellis-Teris said he admires that Hacker often records the band and listens back to it after business hours and takes note of what they need to improve. The admiration is reciprocated by Hacker, who sees Ellis-Teris as a natural leader in the band.

“He kind of bought into the whole idea of ‘Hey, we're going to strive for excellence,’” Hacker said. “He has set a good example and the other students respond well to him and like being around him.”

Ellis Quintanilla, a seventh grade tenor saxophone player, uses music as a stress reliever when her life gets “chaotic.” 

Photo by Madison Bierl

She compared it to meditation, and also said that being in band has greatly improved her ability to communicate effectively with others. 

“One thing I didn't want to do in the band was communicate, and I had to because we do sight reading and we communicate with notes and music.” 

Quintanilla said there have been moments of panic due to notes that were difficult to reach, but she always got them in the end. 

“Mr. Hacker being super funny and positive and supportive with all our music, and helping us out whenever we need it was a great thing for all of us to experience,” Quintanilla said. 

“She puts in the work, is receptive to feedback and is also just a really talented musician,” Hacker said of Quintanilla. 

“I like Mr. Hacker and the way he teaches,” said eighth grader Hezekiah Coblentz who plays the French horn.

Hacker said he has been experimenting in the way he teaches his students how to play their respective instruments. He said everyone’s way of learning is different.

“I find new or different ways to teach the same concepts to people in different ways that might connect with them more,” Hacker said. “You’ve got to think outside the box of multiple ways to do the same thing.”

The songs the band played at the assessment were "Forward March!" by Paul Murtha, overture "Saqqara: A Window to Ancient Egypt" by Francois Olivier-Fortin, and "The Spirit of an Eagle" by Larry Clark. 

Ellis-Teris said they have been playing "The Spirit of an Eagle" since the beginning of the school year and started practicing the other two songs in January. He said he enjoys that Hacker breaks up the practice so they aren’t playing the same song for too long, so they stay engaged. 

Coblentz said “Forward March” was his favorite to play because he loves marches. He also said "The Spirit of an Eagle" was difficult but still had lots of fun with it. 

There were mixed feelings of nervousness and eagerness right before the performance. 

Hacker said that he told his students that regardless of what rating they recieved, they would be making beautiful music as long as they showed up and performed like they were capable of doing.

Quintanilla said her friends were scared for her and the band, but she was confident they would put on a good performance.

“I was feeling good, because we had everything down,” Quintanilla said. “We rehearsed and I was ready to go.”

Photo by Madison Bierl

Coblentz said that during the performance he was focused. 

“I love playing my instrument, and I'm just passionate toward being good at it,” he said.

Ellis-Teris said he felt they played well, but also thought there were still some things that could have been improved. 

Quintanilla said after the competition they were sitting in their school bus when Hacker entered the bus, holding the performance medals.

“We were screaming for, I swear, an hour,” Quintanilla said. 

Hacker loved seeing his students ecstatic after all their hard work. Braden River Middle's jazz band also received superior ratings in February.

“I put challenging music in front of them," Hacker said. "They weren't sure they'd be able to play it, but they got the ultimate reward because of that.”