Tuesday, December 11th was HHS’s band and orchestra’s annual winter concert. The concert featured ten songs in total and the largest student section that the school has seen in years.
The concert started out with the ninth through twelfth grade orchestra playing Warrior Legacy by Soon Hee Newbold. This piece was a strong start to the concert being powerful. The next song was La La Land by Justin Hurwitz (arr. Longford). This was the titular medley from the 2016 musical film, La La Land. This piece was chosen in honor of the upcoming LA trip for the band and orchestra. Continuing the theme, the orchestra wrapped up with the tenth through twelfth graders playing Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Moricone and Andrea Morricone (arr. Krogstad), featuring Jacob Lewack on the piano. This piece was slow, beautiful, and made use of various techniques that paired well with the piano accompaniment.
The second part of the evening was the Concert Band. They started off strong with a powerful piece called El Manto Dorado, a pasodoble by Jorge L. Vargas. El Manto Dorado, meaning the golden cape in English, is an energetic song written in 2/4 time. The second number was A Holst Hymn (“I Vow to Thee, My Country”) based on Gustav Holst’s The Planets and arranged by Robert W. Smith. This was the first of the band’s three pieces by Holst. This piece was balanced and on the quieter side. The final song that the Concert Band played was Sunchaser by Carol Brittin Chambers. Sunchaser starts off slowly before building into a faster part, slowing down once more, and ending in with a bang.
Next was the Wind Ensemble who started with Mesa Dances by Gavin Lendt. Their second song was In the Bleak Midwinter by Gustav Holst (arr. Smith). Tori Dell, a junior and percussionist in Wind Ensemble, said, “[the pieces] really showed our versatility as an ensemble between the exposed solos and the loud fanfare sections.” The Wind Ensemble finished up with Second Suite in F for Military Band by Gustav Holst. Made up of four movements, I. March, II. Song Without Words, “I’ll Love My Love,” III. Song of the Blacksmith, and IV. Fantasia on “The Dargason,” this medley was the longest performance by far. It balanced itself between fast and peppy parts, slowing down in places, and sounding whimsical in others.
The grand finale featured all of the students from the HHS band or orchestra classes on the stage or in the pit playing Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 by Paul O’Neil and Robert Kinkel (arr. Phillips and Megaw). The orchestra lit up their bows in a stunning display. The combined song, which was originally performed by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in the 50s, made for a powerful and amazing end to the concert. It started out with a four note pattern played by the clarinets before the flutes and violins quickly joined in. Once the slow part ended there was a brief second of silence before the band and orchestra exploded into the powerful and loud part of the piece. The parts playing Carol of the Bells and God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen mixed together well.
Along with the spectacular performances, another aspect of this concert really stood out. The student section, an area with a couple rows of seats taped off for the middle schoolers, had the largest attendance in years. The students almost filled the section and they all wore red to show their town spirit.
Spencer Farish, an audience member and vocalist in the HHS chorus, commented on the concert, recalling, “It was quite entertaining. I’ve never been to a band or orchestra concert before. I was very impressed with all the music played.” The audience appeared to be very pleased with the overall quality of the music.
Now that concert season is over the music classes will start to prepare for all-town next March which will almost certainly be just as loud and proud as this concert.
