Middle School's Chorus Concert Report: Burlington Township High School

On April 26th, I attended the College of Liberal Arts Department of Performance Studies presenting there Small Ensembles Concert. The performance began at 7:30 at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church and the ensemble was coached by David Wilborn. The ensemble included a variety of brass including; a horn trio, a brass trio, a trombone and tape, and a trombone choir. The performers were talented, but I did not care for the pieces that were chosen for the concert.

First, the overall tone in all three pieces was phenomenal, but there were a couple spots during the performance that were not as amazing as the rest of the performance. In the first song, Hamilton by Jerry Brubaker, it was hard to hear certain sections

On April 11th, 2017 in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, I attended the GVSU “University Band”. This up-beat ensemble lasted about 90 minutes; the talented students of GVSU’s university band joined together to perform multiple different songs ranging from a Waltz to a Dixieland Jamboree. All of the songs that the band played for the audience were all well-known, popular songs that they all enjoyed. Having the opportunity to attend this concert has opened new musical paths for myself and has allowed me to enjoy and kindly critique something that I perhaps would have never had the chance to otherwise.

This song seemed to require the most work from the performers as it used a wide range of dynamics, pitches, and tempo. The last song of the evening, and probably my favorite (not just because it was the last), was “Folk Dances”. This song, just like the first, had a very festive feel to it. The upbeat tempo, lead by the flutes and clarinets, made the song very enjoyable to hear and also had a very happy feel to it, which, in my mind, made it a very appropriate closer. The song started with a great tempo but a relatively soft dynamic. This quickly changed about half way through the song when the dynamics picked up. The loud dynamics with the fast tempo at the end of the song had a very grandiose sound and left the audience with a great taste in their mouths.

East Carolina’s Concert band and Symphonic band performed on Tuesday, February 16, at seven thirty in the evening in Wright Auditorium. Being a duel performance it included over a hundred of my talented East Carolina peers led by outstanding band Directors Dr. Juchniewicz and Dr. Staub. Along with great students and Directors, the show incorporated a beautiful trombone solo performed by a fellow colleague. Although I have never attended a concert where such style of music was being performed, I did enjoy the music being played and most of them sounded as if I heard them before. The professionalism the students portrayed and maintain to the audience was breathtaking and made me honored to be their peers.

“Introducing Davenport West Connection!!!” This is how every show choir performance for west connection members starts no matter what the year. Show choir is one of the most fun activities I have ever taken part in. From back in 8th grade Williams Intermediate Show Choir, to now in Davenport West Connection I have loved every minute of it. The people, hair and makeup, performing onstage, and even the practices were full of fun and laughter. Throughout 8th grade to now there is an enormous difference between high school show choir, and middle school show choir causing one to exceed the other. The practice and rehearsals, fundamentals of the performance, and competitions widely contrast one another yet have surprising comparisons which contribute

The next song performed was Since You’re Not Here. The women in the choir sang this song, expressing the emotions anger, sadness, and fear. Half of the girl’s turned away at the beginning of the piece to show that they were upset, using hand motions to resemble crying. Ultimately, the result was another silly song that was very enjoyable due to the believable expressions of emotion.

I’m in love with music because it always seems to make my day go by better. Rap, recitals, jazz and classical concerts top in my music preferred list. My passion for music made me very excited about going the Columbus state musical concert held in the River Center of Performing Arts In the Legacy Room. The theatre is located in a nice location giving the audience a full range of sound and sight. The sounds are incredible and I really loved how I could hear everything. The stage can be seen from any place that one decides to stand on. For this particular concert, the venue was dimly lit. The concert staged was adorned by different musicians, with their amazing performances.. The audience could not help, but dance and sing along with the

Smithville High School presented two winter concerts. I got the opportunity to view both performances. The first show was by the Vocal Music Department directed by Mr. Marcus Duncan and aided by accompanist Emily Rowland, and the second show was by the Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Band conducted by Mr. Tom Brockman and Ms. Brittany Terwey. There were very similar aspects of the two concerts and very different aspects of the two concerts.

Junior Anna Stillman said she thinks it’s awesome to have so many girls in the choir and they are starting to sing very well as a group, although at times it is hard to have a good balance of sound with so many voices at one time.

The concert ended with a very energetic song, which all the musicians in the stage played in. This arrangement was very rock/country like. A vocalist accompanied the orchestra. His vibrant personality and style of singing help the audience really engage in the

This was a very beautiful love ballad that had a calm and romantic melody. The next song was “My Grown Up Christmas” by Kelly Clarkson. There were four female and two male soloists. When the soloist sang, everyone sang the harmony part. This pop song was very meaningful, inspirational, and quite emotional about the grown up Christmas list that we wished for everyone in the world not just for ourselves. The UIC Vocal Jazz Ensemble ended their performance with “Daddy Lessons” from the album Lemonade by Beyoncé. This is a country and blue song. This song was a an excellent choice to end their performance because it was very entertaining with the scat singing and funny acting like people are exchanging a conversation.

In the May 16th concert, the Sartell High School Concert Band played six pieces in the Sartell High School auditorium. Those six piece were, “Into The Clouds”, “On The Rising WInds”, “Adagietto”, “A Westward Expedition”, “From Russia With Music”, and “Prospect”. I will be evaluating the band’s dynamics and intonation.

For this assignment, I decided to attend the NW Singers and Chamber Choir performance. The reason why I chose this option over the others is because I’ve always found organized vocal music to be very beautiful. Listening to music that uses only the human voice is striking and has a certain personal feel to it. I also feel that I can relate more to choir music, as I am in the choir at my church. This concert was directed by Ms. Susanne Spencer VanDyke, accompanied by Dr. Saundra Bishop on the piano.

I believe that the routine was not well put together. A necessary component in the piece was an overly cocky, in-your-face attitude. The piece was set to “Whuteva” by Remy Ma, which reflects this attitude. The dancers however, did not deliver. They weren’t exuding the confidence that the piece demanded from them and because of this, the music overshadowed the performers.