Every morning, from 7 to 10, the sound of trumpets and drums can be heard throughout the quad at Theodore Roosevelt High School. Students shuffle in and out of the band room with instruments in hand, while others follow along reading musical notes in front of them.
The man in charge: Max Deger, Roosevelt’s new band director.
While Deger hasn’t been a familiar face for long, his students are attentive – they carefully watch his moves and take his direction. That’s because, Deger says, he focuses on a socio-emotional way of teaching to help motivate students rather than tear them down.
After 10 years of teaching music and working with different band programs, Deger began as RHS’s band director this fall and promised to bring his own special touch to the music program while preserving the traditions of the community’s renowned and beloved marching band.
In October, Deger prepared Roosevelt’s 90-member band for a performance with Black Eyed Peas during the East L.A. Classic at SoFi Stadium.
“If you would have told me … that I would be bringing my students out and performing with them on the field at SoFi stadium I would have probably laughed in your face,” Deger said weeks before the Classic.
Now, he hopes to have the band perform at local venues, widening the scope of the school’s music program.
“We’re all still there to make music,” he said. “Something as simple as going on a trip and seeing how other people do it in a different place is such a valuable experience.”
The 30-year-old conductor and producer grew up in the suburbs of Long Island, New York. He moved to East L.A. last December after earning a Master’s degree in wind conducting and composition at the University of Nevada, Reno. Deger taught for a short time in Koreatown before being hired at Roosevelt.
Before Deger’s arrival, Erick Quintanilla led the RHS band for more than 10 years. Having worked with many band students since they first took up music at nearby Hollenbeck Middle School, Quintanilla helped shape Roosevelt’s band program and embraced many traditions such as the Rider fight song and the annual band banquet.
Because many students at Roosevelt take pride in the marching band, curiosity about the future of the band program began to grow after Quintanilla resigned.
For student body president Erika Sanchez the East L.A. Classic performance was enough to reassure her the band was in good hands. “Mr. Deger did an amazing job with the Classic performance. I hope we continue to see these kinds of performances from the band throughout the year,” Sanchez said.
Deger says he wants to continue the legacy Quintanilla left behind while also integrating his passions and teachings into the music program. His students are also adapting to his teachings.
“I’m looking forward to improving our sound and seeing his ideas for this band flourish,” said senior drum major and Boyle Heights Beat youth reporter Ismerai Calcaneo.
“I know he has been working hard and I’m looking forward to seeing how the band will look and sound in the next five years.”
Much like his students, Degar also got a start in music by joining school bands. While he credits his father for teaching him how to play the trumpet and guitar, it was after joining his school’s band program that his passion for music grew.
Roosevelt High School band director Max Deger leads rehearsal. (Photo by Genesis Peña) 
Roosevelt High School band director Max Deger leads student performers at a practice for the 2024 East L.A. Classic. (Photo by Andrea Curiel) 
Roosevelt High School band director Max Deger leads rehearsal in preparation for the East L.A. Classic. (Photo by Genesis Peña)
“I remember developing a really close relationship with [my band teacher] and my classmates, that was sort of a common bond we had with one another all the way through the end of high school,” Deger said.
He’s also found ways to bring his passion for hip-hop to his musical career, having released his own instrumental hip-hop album, Retrospect. He says that a lot of his inspiration comes from old hip-hop and R&B artists, such as Terrace Martin Kumasi Washington and Kendrick Lamar, and has even incorporated some of that music into the band’s practice.
Besides leading the band, Deger exposes his students to different musical approaches to expand their horizons. He’s passed on his experience in music production and editing and helped students get a start in music education with his music technology class through Roosevelt’s Applied Music and Digital Production program.
During the band’s early morning rehearsals, Deger focuses on perfecting fundamentals but also adding new concepts, such as learning modern songs and different musical genre techniques. Deger hopes to continue encouraging his students to keep an open mind and bring new opportunities for them throughout his future years at Roosevelt High School.
“I would absolutely love to travel with the ensemble. I want for them to hear as many different styles and traditions of music as possible,” he said.
As he continues with Roosevelt’s band program, he hopes to teach the following generations of young musicians to use their curiosity to fuel their passion for music.
“I want to stress the importance of always keeping your ears open,” Deger said. “Always remaining curious and feeling the freedom to be able to engage with something that makes you a little uncomfortable and use that as an opportunity to grow.”
