The beginning of the year is always a time where concerts are few and far between, but luckily January holds the small ensembles concert before March where the All-Town concerts begin.
The Concert started out with Junior Chamber; a middle school ensemble made up of mostly orchestra students with some members of the band. This ensemble is conducted by Ms. Sassano. The Junior Chamber played two songs: Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga (arr. Roszell) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Main Theme, Rey’s Theme, March of the Ressistance, The Jedi Steps and Finale) by John Williams (arr. Longfield). Edge of Glory was a medium-paced song with power. Kaia Johnson, a member of Junior Chamber, commented “For me, because I play the cello part, [Edge of Glory] is very repetitive. …there is a lot of sixteenth notes.” Star Wars: The Force Awakens was hopeful at times while showcasing this ensemble’s ability to sound mysterious and proud in other places. Isabella Flores, a percussionist in the ensemble, noted that, “…the melody changes a lot, and it goes fast then slow…” Overall Junior Chamber’s beginning to the concert was short and sweet.
The HHS Chamber followed the Junior Chamber ensemble. They started out with Elementa, a piece made up of three movements by Soon Hee Newbold. The first movement was Flights of Fancy, an impressive and grand piece. The Second movement was Terra. It was slower than the others but very majestic. The final movement was Fire and Ice, a powerful movement that showed the ensemble’s ability to be brave and bold. The second piece was Bailes para Orquesta by Richard Meyer, a series of Spanish dances at different speeds written for an orchestral ensemble. Tommy Parker, a violist in his senior year, said, “I am so proud of every member of the chamber orchestra, especially Nina Murphy, Zak Robbins, Sasha Coleman, and Troy Leibovici who tackled some crazy solos. This is my second year in Chamber, and I am so glad I joined; these small [ensemble] concerts are really spectacular.” After Bailes para Orquestra finished, the HHS Chamber left the stage, and the band portion of the night began.
Chamber Winds, an ensemble of high school band students conducted by Mr. Cincotta played A Longford Legend by Robert Sheldon, which was made up of three movements all based on Irish folk songs. The first movement was the titular A Longford Legend. A Longford Legend started out upbeat and jaunty but turned stormy until it ended with a louder portion, reflecting the poem it was based on where a crew is not able to dock their boat, and they slowly starve to death. The second movement, Young Molly Bawn, based on a song where a man accidentally shoots his fiancée while hunting, was slower and more melancholy to reflect the tone of the original song. There were solos and plenty of beautiful moments. The final movement was Killyburn Brae. The original song is about a man who is so fed up with his wife that he sells her to Satan. The wife then beats two demons to death and Satan is forced to return her back to her husband. Killyburn Brae was the fastest of the three movements, starting out cheerfully, but descending into a darker part in the middle before returning to the emotion of the start but with more noise. The menacing motif of dies irae, originally a Latin chant meaning day of wrath, appeared roughly halfway through the movement to signify that the part of the story that takes place in the fiery pits of the underworld.
After Chamber Winds the concert transitioned from traditional orchestral music to jazz. The first of the two jazz ensembles was the HMS Jazz Band, who started out with C Jam Blues by Duke Ellington (arr. Stitzel). This song had an impressive six solos, where students would improvise for twelve measures while the rhythm section would support them. Their second song was God Bless’ the Child by Arthur Herzog, Jr. & Billie Holliday (arr. Stitzel). God Bless’ the Child was slower than the other two songs, but it still maintained a fast and steady beat throughout the song. The HMS Jazz Band finished with What Came First? By Dean Sorensen. This was an upbeat, up-tempo song with excellent rhythm and even more great solos.
The concert ended with the HHS Jazz Band. For the first time ever the jazz band did a feature of an artist. Three of the four songs the band played were written by Charles Mingus, a bassist and composer known for their expressiveness. The first song the jazz band played was Haitian Fight Song by Charles Mingus (arr. Hornzy). This song started with a bass solo from Troy Leibovici and as more parts came into the song, musicians filed into their seats from the stage’s sides. Towards the end of the song the rest of the musicians dropped out of the song for another bass solo until they gradually came in like in the beginning before ending with a bang. The second song the jazz band played was Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Charles Mingus (arr. Hornzy). This song was slower and more somber. The third song was Perdido by Juan Tizol (arr. Lopez), a lively mambo with jazzy energy. Zach Kenigsberg, a senior and tenor saxophone player who had a solo commented, “I am glad it went well. I wanted to make it as dynamic as possible to show people how much I love jazz and how much I love playing in the band…” The concert finished with Better Get Hit in Your Soul by Charles Mingus (arr. Hornzy). This song featured many solos and was loud and proud to end the concert with power.
The small ensemble concert is a wonderful way to show the ability of all students who choose to do music outside school hours.
