The band, choir and orchestra students presented outstanding performances during the fall concerts on Oct. 15 and 17.

The first night consisted of the jazz band, wind ensemble and symphonic wind ensemble, while the second night was all of the choirs, with chamber orchestra as a finale.

The first night began with the cheerful tune of James Curnow’s “Where Never Lark Or Eagle Flew” and ended with the jazz band performing “Straight, No Chaser” by Thelonious Monk, featuring various student solos throughout the performance on several instruments such as the saxophone, trumpet and flute. These solos showcased their investment and dedication towards learning their instrument. There were also smaller groups of students that performed together while the rest of the band played in the background.

“Oftentimes you have a bad dress rehearsal and a great concert, and that was true this time. We had a couple of scary rehearsals right before, but the concert was fantastic; the students really rose to the occasion, they played with a lot of energy and emotion, and we had a great audience, so really that helped motivate them as well,” Band teacher Teri Musiel stated.

The songs were beautifully played, taking the audience through a seamless change of tone in each song. While some songs, such as Eric Whitacre’s “October” brought about feelings of walking through a forest or running through an open field, others, like “Samba Kinda Mambo” by Michael Philip Mossman were rather upbeat. 

“Jazz band is very challenging, but rewarding … If we messed up [while performing], we got each other back on track and continued playing,” said junior Yash Pachori, who plays guitar in jazz band. 

The second night started out with the most beginning choir, the Women’s Ensemble and the Men’s Ensemble, and worked its way to the most advanced choir, the Chamber Singers. While all of the choirs gave great showings, the Chamber Singers went above and beyond, utilizing unique instruments in one of their songs as well as many soloists. 

“I love seeing everything come together in a cohesive show,” choir teacher Diana Walker said.

After a brief intermission, the Chamber Orchestra played, and their set, like all of the previous ones, displayed their adherence to music.

Many of the choirs sang songs with foreign words or phrases, displaying the distinctive level of time and effort that was put into the performance.

“I feel like this was the first time in the time that I’ve been in the program where everyone was really prepared for the fall concert, rather than being a little more unstable,” senior Anna Nu said. “This time, everyone was feeling really confident in their repertoire, and it went really well.” 

The Women’s Ensemble began with a cheerful song entitled “There’s a Song in the Air” by Karl P. Harrington, and throughout their three song set, the songs progressively became more melancholy, ending with the song “Reflection” from Mulan. The Men’s Ensemble followed, singing just a single song, “Sisi Ni Moja.” 

Next, the Treble Clef and the Concert Choir performed, both of them singing in great harmonies with a fitting contrast between the sopranos’ voices and the tenor voices. The Chamber Singers wrapped up the choir section of the concert, and Chamber Orchestra ended the night, with the last song being an orchestral suite by Bach.

The highlight of the second concert was undoubtedly the Chamber Singers. They used unique instruments and even their voices as accompaniments in their first song, “Son de Camaguey” by Stephen Hatfield. Their next two songs, “In My Little Picture Frame” and “Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Buble, encompassed several unique solos.

Many of the songs performed across both concerts were repeats from the pancake breakfast, which occurred on Sept. 7. However, there was a lot of improvement compared to the pancake breakfast, and they were able to nearly perfect their performed songs. Overall, the performances were truly a delight, and it is evident that our music department works hard to deliver such impressive performances. 

The winter concerts will be performed on Dec. 9-12, featuring band, orchestra, and choir. 

“I’m excited to see each ensemble challenge themselves and do some more challenging music in this next concert,” Walker said.