Winter Holidays, Band Style Christmas carols? Check. Secular music? Check. Marching music? Check. Wait a minute! Marching music, in a winter concert? That’s news! On December 17, 2014, the band program at Western Heights Middle School in Hagerstown, MD presented such a show. Director Jessica Seville led the various groups, comprised of advanced sixth grade instrumentalists plus seventh and eighth graders through the show expertly. New arrangements of popular and familiar sounds of the season abounded in various styles from concert band to jazz done on a wider variety of instruments than listeners typically find in the musical style. The group comprised of those sixth graders in the advanced band and seventh graders opened the concert with a wider variety of seasonal tunes. After performing a march-style version of an English wassail song, they went onto a medley of Christmas music, both secular and hymn-based. From there, they played a Puerto Rican carol and completed a trip around the musical world with a piece entitled “Jingle Bones.” Following the Jazz Band’s performance on instruments including flutes, clarinets, and others not always a part of the saxophone, piano, percussion and brass based style, the eighth grade band came on by themselves for 4 pieces appropriate to winter concerts. In what might come as a surprise to many attendees of school concerts, the Marching Band soon appeared on the stage. This provided quite the review for those members of the community who could not attend the band’s parades throughout the fall season, making it a welcome addition. The group proudly showed off its cadence, then played the music from the two parade days in which it had participated. Once the marchers finished their selections, the bands from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade all combined forces to fill the stage. The large group looked and sounded quite impressive in their grand finale of “We Wish You a Coolcat Christmas,” meant to send the audience out on a high note. In all, 5 separate groups within the band program at Western Heights Middle School presented a fantastic program of music on December 17, 2014. It truly is a privilege to live in a community that embraces the arts to a degree such that so many young musicians stay in the band through middle school!
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 21:16:27 +0000
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