On Dec. 9 in the McAfee Center, the combined orchestra played a triumphant release to “A Christmas Festival” by Leroy Anderson, letting the sound hang in the air as a packed audience burst into applause. This concert was part of the music program’s Winter Concert Series, with two other performances on Dec. 4 and Dec. 11.
The first concert on Dec. 4 featured the school’s choirs and two jazz bands.
“I’m very happy with the wide variety of pieces the choir performed, with pieces like ‘Cuncti Simus’ from the 1400s, ‘White Winter Hymnal’ by Pentatonix, and ‘A Marshmallow World’ by Dean Martin,” choir director Shelly Durbin said.
A treble ensemble led by junior Misha Khairom sang “Where the Light Begins” by Susan Labarr, focusing their set list on music composed by women.
The choir was also joined by a student-led a cappella ensemble, which performed, “Cups (When I’m Gone).” During the concert, they sang while stacking cups, bringing an element of excitement and energy to the end of year concert.
The second concert on Dec. 9 featured the Freshman Orchestra, Philharmonic Strings, String Orchestra and Saratoga Strings. Each group performed two pieces before coming together to perform “A Christmas Festival” by Leroy Anderson as the finale.
Music director Michael Boitz said, “I think the whole concert from top to bottom was pulled off very well. I was especially proud of the freshmen, but also many other players without as much experience really stretched themselves this concert.”
In particular, Boitz shouted out senior Ayan Rai, who played a piano solo for the Philharmonic Strings, despite it being his first year in orchestra and not having played piano for several years before joining.
Saratoga Strings performed the second and third movement of “Petite Symphonie Concertante,” an unusual piece by Frank Martin that comes from 12-tone music. The orchestra showcased two senior pianists, Justin Jiang and Esad Melikazade, alongside senior harpist Julia Cheng.
Boitz said, “I first found this piece when I went to the Midwest Clinic in Chicago a few years ago. I really like the song; it’s a very cerebral piece. I was really proud of [Jiang, Melikazade, and Cheng] because it is difficult to balance those parts.”
Like Rai, Jiang joined the program this year. Despite playing a challenging piece, alternating between triple and double meter, Jiang remained composed.
“Compared to our rehearsals, I think we definitely played at a slightly faster tempo with more vigor and intensity, which really paid off for the cool ending,” Jiang said.
To wrap up the concert series, the band’s performance on Dec. 11 featured the Freshmen Band, Symphonic Band, Symphonic Wind Ensemble and four student-led chamber groups.
The concert started out with the four chamber groups performing a wide variety of music. A group of winds performed a self-made arrangement of “Another Day of Sun” by Justin Hurwitz; a brass ensemble performed “White Rose Elegy” by Caleb Hudson; a wind quintet performed “Quintet for Winds No. 3, I. Slow, Moderate” by David Maslanka and a percussion ensemble performed “José / before John 5” by Aurel Hollo.
The Freshman Band performed “A Longford Legend” by Robert Sheldon and the Symphonic Band performed “Mi Vecino” by Michele Fernández, before combining to perform “Let’s Go, Hiroshima Carp!” by Naoshi Miyazaki and arranged by Hiroaki Kataoka.
The Symphonic Wind Ensemble performed “Fantasia in G” by Timothy Mahr and “Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Paganini” by James Barnes, before concluding the concert with “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson.
Next semester, the music department will start working on festival music for California Music Educators Association and tour music for their trip to Japan next summer.
