Fall Concert Preview

As always, the start of the new year comes with a number of exciting performances by our school’s music groups. The orchestras, choirs, and bands will all perform in three concerts in our auditorium. Here they are:

• Thursday, Oct. 30th: Studio Singers, Jazz Band, Concert Chorale, and Symphonic Band

• Wednesday, Nov. 5th: Bel Canto, Choir, and String Orchestra

• Thursday, Nov. 6th: Jazz Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, A-choired Taste, and Concert Band

As you might have guessed, October 30th is the day before Halloween, and our groups have some seasonal offerings to go along with it:

Symphonic Band, under the direction of Eric Hughes, will be performing the Phantom of The Opera Medley with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Seans. They will also be performing, in a pre-Halloween tradition, The Complete Harry Potter arranged by Jerry Brubaker. This piece features almost every theme and score from all twelve movies, and the Symphonic Band performs it every time their concert falls before Halloween.

Jazz Band, conducted by Phil Pandori, will perform three tunes for their concert. The first, "Cherry Point" by Neal Hefti, is a big band song originally debuted by the Count Basie Orchestra. They’ll also play "Song for Silver", a piece inspired by the works of pianist Horace Silver. Lastly, they’ll play "The Chicken", a funk tune by the great Jaco Pastorius.

Studio Singers, directed by Mrs. Pizzino-Catalano, will perform "Cry Me a River" by Arthur Hamilton (featuring Alex LeFargue and Evelia Echandy), "Bye Bye Blackbird" by Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon, and "Ain't Misbehavin’" by Fats Waller. They’ll also sing a version of Dave Brubeck’s piano classic "Take Five".

Concert Chorale, under Mrs. Pizzino-Catalano, will perform The King’s Singers' version of "Yesterday" by the Beatles, "The Epitaph" by Joseph M. Martin (feat. Nathaniel Allen, violin), "Let the River Run" by Carly Simon, and "Veniki" by F. Rubtsov, a Russian folk and tongue twister.

The week after, everyone can enjoy some mid-week music with two choirs and an orchestra on stage.

Choir, led by Mrs. Pizzino-Catalano, will perform "Dies Irae", "Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie", "I Wish You Peace", and "At the Beginning" from Anastasia.

Bel Canto will sing "Non nobis Domine", "Vox Vibe", "Ain’t No Windin’ in the Road", and "My Home" (as sung by Rockapella).

String Orchestra, directed by Mrs. McClenon will play three pieces, including "Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky, "Apricity" by Nicolas Repetto, and highlights from The Greatest Showman, arranged by James Kazik.

As the last concert in the fall schedule the music department will really put on a show with four groups, including:

Jazz Ensemble, led by Mr. Pandori, has a program of three tunes, including the jazz fusion sounds of "Red Clay" by Freddie Hubbard, and Duke Ellington’s blues ballad "Such Sweet Thunder". The band will feature three student soloists on Charles Mingus’s 1959 chart, "Pedal Point Blues".

Symphony Orchestra, under Mr. Mooney, is going to play selected movements from Dvorak’s "Serenade in E Minor".

A-choired Taste will perform "She Sings", "Four Seasonal Rounds" (Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter), "Dona Nobis Pacem" featuring Sean Calhoun on violin), "We Are the Music Makers", and "Lollipop" as sung by the Chordettes.

Concert Band, also led by Mr. Pandori, will perform "Tribal Journeys: by Justin Harden, and "March of the Shadows" by Haley Woodrow. The most exciting part of their set is sure to be their rendition of "The Witch and the Saint", an instrumental epic inspired by a German folktale of the same name.

This Fall, make sure to head on over to the theatre for all of the great things the Nisky Music Department has to offer. All the shows start at 7:30 and they’re all free to watch. What are you waiting for? Come down and enjoy some music!