All-Town is a yearly concert in which all band classes starting from fifth grade get together to play in a large, hour-long concert. The concert starts with the high schoolers all together, then goes to the fifth grade, and progressively moves back to the older bands. The concert always ends with a song performed by all the musicians in the room. This year’s theme was pop music, and students were encouraged to dress in pop music themed attire.

The two high school ensembles started off the concert with a selection of Bruno Mars songs. Mr. Cincotta puts this section first to astound the fifth and sixth graders, hoping that the impressive playing will convince them to continue their band journeys until they graduate. The medley contained a mix of powerful, loud, and fast parts that contrasted some of the slower and more beautiful parts in the heart of the medley.

The next part of the concert kicked off as Ms. Crook conducted the fifth grade band who played “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. This song not only featured the instruments typically played by fifth graders (flute, clarinet, trumpet, and trombone) but stomping and clapping with all the musicians yelling “Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, it’s a party in the USA” in unison to end off the song.

The concert continued with the sixth grade band who played “Shut Up and Dance” by WALK THE MOON. In sixth grade, students are able to expand their horizons and play a variety of instruments outside of the starting four such as percussion, saxophones, tubas, and many more giving the sixth graders a more diverse sound.

Next, Mr. Cincotta took the wheel with the seventh grade band. Being the first year where music is not a requirement, the seventh grade band is smaller than the sixth grade band, but it signifies a big change in the band experience because the members are much more committed. This year the seventh graders played “Roar” by Katy Perry. This was an energetic song with many strong parts.

After that came the eighth grade band who played “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran. Miranda Alfonso, who plays clarinet in the eighth grade band, commented, “I didn’t get to hear much of the brass because my class is extremely small, so it was just nice to hear it all come together.” It was clear that the eighth grade band had put a lot of effort into this piece.

After a brief transition, the concert band was prepared to play. They played a Lady Gaga medley. The concert band’s playing was strong and connected.

The penultimate part of the concert featured the wind ensemble playing a boy band medley along with “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC. This was a powerful set of songs that went together well.

For the grand finale all the musicians grades five through twelve played “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift. This song was chosen because it signified how everyone belongs in the band program. This version of the song was arranged by Mr. Cincotta.

This concert is very special for everyone in the band program. Along with the walls being lined with posters of positive comments about band made by students in all different grades (a tradition started this year), many students had things to say about the concert itself. Paige Hutchison, a tenor saxophone player, said, “I thought it was truly incredible. It was really cool to see the development of band kids from fifth grade all the way to high school… Band is grand!” Mary Smock, a flautist in her junior year, added, “It was amazing. I was so proud of everyone there. We all worked so hard and it was really nice to see how much of a community that was built.”