East High Students Bring Music and Gratitude to Veterans at Solstice
by Sarah Patti
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Veterans at Solstice and East High students
This past Veteran’s Day, Williamsville East High School students carried forward a proud tradition that has been part of East High for over a decade: honoring veterans through music. For the very first time, the performance was held at Solstice Senior Living, located near the intersection of Transit Road and Casey Road, following an invitation from Solstice's Director of Celebrations, Ms. Nichole Auquier. The event came together through the collaboration of Ms. Auquier, the East High Music Department faculty, Mrs. Weber, the school librarian, and Mr. Meyer, the advisor of the WEHS National Honor Society.
There were a total of eighteen veterans from the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marines. They enjoyed some patriotic tunes sung by Chorale, jazz standards performed by Vocal Jazz and Jazz Combo, and a medley of six Beatles tunes played by Symphony Orchestra.
The string orchestra performing
The Chorale Group
When asked about the song selections, Ms. Girzone, director of Vocal Jazz, said, “Part of the reason we select the songs we do for Veterans Day is because we want to select songs that were popular when the veterans and people at Solstice were growing up, as opposed to songs that are on the radio today. We did Gershwin because jazz has always been really popular, and they’re tunes that have been around for a long time that a lot of people would know. The songs are hits that we thought would be enjoyable for them. We also chose the ‘Salute to the Armed Services’ medley to recognize all of the veterans and different parts of the military that many of the residents were in.” Watching each of the veterans stand up or gesture for their branch of the military was definitely a highlight of the day. Mrs. Weber brought cards that her students made to thank the veterans for their service.
Card for veterans
At the end of the Beatles medley, Mrs. Ieda, director of Symphony Orchestra, asked the veterans to name the tunes. They got every single one correct! Mrs. Ieda commented on the importance of this event, saying, “I think first and foremost, it’s really important for us to understand that the day that we have off is more than just a break. It’s a day that we set aside our normal duties and honor the people who served in the armed forces for our freedom, and the best way to do that is to connect with those people who actually did that. Many of them are now older. When I started doing this ten or twelve years ago, we had a lot more World War II veterans, and now those people are nearly 100 years old. So it’s really important to connect the high school kids with this older generation so that they understand the sacrifice these people made, and understand what it means to them because otherwise, we lose that perspective. Not all kids have that other generation, and I still think it’s really important to connect. Students bring them joy, and hopefully we can learn from them and their service.”
The chorale group
Ms. Raimondo, director of Chorale, agreed with Mrs. Ieda’s point on connection between generations. She stated, “We got lots of compliments from the veterans after about the song selections and the quality of the performance. It’s nice to see music bring different generations together.”
This proved to be a meaningful experience for students as well as the veterans. Braden Kromer, a trumpet player in the Jazz Combo, recalled one veteran in the front row who said, “Beautiful!” after each song and was moved to tears by the performance. Many other veterans shared their inspiring stories with students. Snigdha, a member of Symphony Orchestra stated, “My favorite part was seeing how happy the veterans were to have us there. It was very fulfilling.” Many students across ensembles shared how excited they are to be a small part of continuing this important tradition.
The Jazz Combo Performing
The Williamsville East Music Department is grateful for the opportunity to work with Solstice Senior Living. Mr. Buckley, director of the jazz combo, commented, “Solstice was great. We really enjoyed working with all of the staff there.” The Williamsville East Music Department is already looking forward to Veterans Day next year!
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