Day 65- Ms. Calvo- Band Instructor

 

Proud Performers - On Thursday Dec 13^th, the Hood Chorus, Beginning Band, and 5^th Grade Band Performed in their first concert of the year!  The Chorus, Directed by Mrs. Ruth Clark, opened the concert with the Star Spangled Banner, followed by Don Gato which is a funny song about a beloved cat that came back to life after suffering a terrible fall.  They also sang Do Re Mi Fa, Tender Sheperd, Walking in the air, The Sleigh, and Winter Fantasy.  The students had to learn some tough harmonies for a few of these pieces, but they sang them with beautiful tone and confidence.  It was obvious that this group has tons of talent.

The 5^th Grade Band played second and they have all worked very hard for the past few weeks to prepare some difficult music.   Under the direction of Miss Jillian Calvao, they performed two classic marches – March Militaire and School Spirit – followed by Riverbend Rhapsody and Auld Lang Syne (AKA the New Year’s Eve Song).  Through this music, the students learned challenging rhythms, tempo changes, and stylistic differences between musical genres.  As such a small group, each student had no choice but to perform their part 100% in order to put it all together correctly.  That can be a lot of pressure for any musician at any age, but they all stepped up to the challenge and handled it well!

The last group to perform was the Beginning Band.  These students have only been playing their instruments for about 10-12 weeks and this was the first time they have ever performed as a band in front of an audience.  It is exciting to see the Beginning Band’s transformation throughout the fall, and they did a fantastic job on all 4 of their concert songs.  They played Mozart Melody, Jingle Bells, and My Dreydl, which were all from their book.  The grand finale of the performance was when the 5^th grade band joined the beginning band on stage for the last piece entitled St. Nick’s on the Housetop.

Mrs. Clark and Miss Calvao are both very proud of their students and what they were able to perform.  The next concert for each group will be the All-Town Concerts at the end of April and beginning of May.