On Wednesday, the FHN Band Program played their annual winter concert. The auditorium was filled with people waiting to hear performances from the Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble. The Jazz Band opened the concert, following their previous performance at Barnwell Middle School on Tuesday. The group performed songs titled “Blues For Gum,” “Virtual Insanity,” “Neon Green,” “Early Morning,” and “Teach Me Tonight,” which featured vocals from Katie Gaynor.
“My favorite song for jazz was definitely “Teach Me Tonight,” I think it went really well and it showed how much our program definitely improved over the years,” Gaynor said.
The Jazz Band’s style of performing also differs from other ensembles, featuring no conductor.
“Most professional settings would not have a conductor for a jazz band, but they do for concert and symphonies,” band director Ryan Curtis said. “Jazz is one of those things where it’s generally kind of run within the group. Part of what I like to do is teach them how to do this.”
This requires coordination and listening skills from the group as a whole.
“Having Curtis conduct us, it’s easier to keep tempo because you’re able to see the tempo in front of you, but with jazz, we’re just relying on drums,” baritone saxophonist Rylan Trotter said.
The Symphonic Band followed with their performance of “Celebration Fanfare,” “Such Small Things,” “Allegiance,” and “Rites of Tamburo.”
“I think the concert went really well for the first concert for a lot of the freshmen coming in,” tenor saxophonist Evelynn Prinster said. “There were a couple mishaps, but it overall went pretty well.”
The song “Rites of Tamburo” featured Jazz Band soloist and Wind Ensemble trumpeter Grace Gaghen as director.
“It was a lot of fun,” Gaghen said. “It was a little nerve-wracking because I wasn’t there at school that day and I was a little nervous that it was going to fall apart, but it didn’t.”
The Wind Ensemble began the final portion of the concert with songs “Fanfare for a New Era,” “Rhythm Dance,” “An Obvious Love,” “Foundry,” and “Mesa Dances.”
“I think these songs weren’t too hard, I feel like we could push ourselves a little harder next concert,” flautist Joy Myung said.
The concert closed out with the traditional festive ending, Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” conducted by Activities Director Arlene Kearns.
“It was a lot of fun,” Gaghen said. “I like Ms. Kearns, it was cool that she got to conduct us.”
Kearns had no previous experience conducting, other than a short rehearsal the Monday before the concert.
“I considered the guest director someone who does a lot for the band and is important to the culture of the band,” Curtis said.
Overall, the students agreed that the Winter Concert was a strong start to the school year, the first of many concerts to enjoy, learn and grow from.
“Curtis did a really good job conducting,” trombonist Patrick Comer said. “We did really well and everyone played great.”
