An Orchestral Christmas
by Rosie Bebout, 6th grade
The Ashland Middle School Winter Concert took place Tuesday, December 9 at Archer Auditorium. It started at 6pm with The 6th, 7th, and 8th grade band and orchestra students performed a selection of Holiday compositions. I recently spoke to orchestra director, Miss Jocelyn Taylor about the performance.
The participants were wearing “concert black attire.” This includes all black, formal clothing. However, since this was a Holiday concert, students could have chosen to also have Holiday accessories such as Santa hats or other fun Holiday accessories
6th grade played some original Holiday songs: Icicles, Christmas Around the Orchestra Room, and Snow Day! 7th Grade played some more recognizable classics: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Silent Night, and an original piece called A Christmas March. 8th graders played other classics: Frosty the Snowman, Trepak (a song from the Nutcracker Ballet) and You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.
All the groups did Fantastic! “I think the students have all worked really hard to get these songs ready. Especially the 8th grade orchestra, which had to learn 2 additional songs to play along with the 7th grade orchestra at the middle school winter assembly on top of their concert music.” Says Miss Taylor.
When I was speaking with Miss Taylor, I asked her what her experience was at the middle school this year. “I love teaching at the middle school. It is the place where I see the most growth from year to year. 6th grade orchestra comes in from Taft Intermediate as beginners, but over the course of their classes at the middle school, they grow into being musicians that are ready for high school orchestra by the end of 8th grade. That's a lot of improvement! It's always fun to see how far students go from year to year, and I can't help being excited and proud to see my students grow into amazing people and amazing musicians.”
Thanks to our Orchestra director Miss Taylor, we know what will be happening at the concert and what it will look like. This is also a great way to learn about how we can further support our fellow AMS students by showing up to the concert or maybe just watching it at home. That can really make a difference in confidence and happiness that it brings to our peers!