Band students from the beginning Sixth Grade Band, Middle School Band, and High School Concert Band performed their annual Spring Concert on March 12th.
The sixth grade students played three selections, including a beginning transcription of Handel's "See The Conquering Hero," followed by two modern compositions entitled "Android Attack" and "Ka Boom," both of which featured the percussion section.
The middle school band performed two selections by Wisconsin composers: Joel Blahnik's "Invention No. 1" and Pierre LaPlante's "Nordic Sketches." both selections are on the WSMA concert band literature list, with the first selection featuring seventh grade flautist Ava Wulf. The middle school band concluded with an exciting composition by Jack Wild, entitled "Megiddo."
The high school band program began with the elegant "Chesford Portrait," an old standard written by James Swearingen. The high school band performed two Class A selections: "Elegy for Albinoni" by Shelley Hanson, and Gustav Holst's masterwork "Second Suite in F," which is standard repertoire for concert band. High school soloists on the Holst piece included Gabby Ciaroni, Halle Drew, Finn Virch, Sergio Berruecos-Morales, and Zoey Schroeder. The concert concluded with the joyful "Earthdance" by Michael Sweeney.
This concert was dedicated to the late Mr. Joel Blahnik (1938-2023), a native of Door County, professional music educator, composer, lecturer, musician, and enthusiastic historian for the music of the Czech Republic. Dr. Steward had the privilege of studying under Blahnik and performing under his direction on a number of occasions early in his career.