Fall Band and Strings Concert @ HPMS

October 11, 2018

     Heyo, friends. Today was the long-awaited concert at HPMS! I got to listen to Strings Orchestra and Jazz Band perform. It was a great concert!

Wind Ensemble

1. Our first song was Canticle by Bruce Pearson. It's basically a really happy and cheerful song. The clarinets get to repeat a phrase over, and over, and over, and over... In the beginning Canticle was very fast, eventually slowing down to a slow minor part, where Henry got to solo on the sax. Then the tempo picked up again, leading to a slow, chorale-like segment. Lastly, Canticle reverted to its original theme, ending with that.
2. Then, we performed O Mio Babbino Caro, which translates to "Oh My Dear Papa". It's only one page, but the tempo is very slow. The 'nets also got a bunch of high notes, and the melody is repeated by different instruments. It's a very pretty, gentle song, and was originally an opera written by Giacomo Puccini. 
3. Lastly, we ended with Ignite the Night! (An exclamation point was in the title, talk about peppy) To be honest, I feel like Ignite the Night was an easy song. The percussion had some great solos, and they rocked! However, the clarinet part was a bit repetitive and tedious. 

     String Orchestra performed 3 songs: Carpe Diem, Deep River, and Galop. I loved Carpe Diem, because it sounded really cool thanks to the call-and-answer. The violins played a phrase, and the violas, cellos, and basses answered. Deep River was slow and gospel-like. Galop was very dynamic and lively, which made it a great conclusion for String Orchestra.
     Jazz Band was AMAZING. Of course, it's Jazz Band. Still, there were a bunch of solos! Terrence, Henry, Oscar, Nathan, Nolan, Tanmayee, Priscilla, and Brighton were great on theirs. Apologies if I forgot anyone. They played C-Jam Blues, Blue Monk, and Pink Panther Remix. My personal favorite was the remix, because Pink Panther is a well-known song, and the remix added whole new levels of rhythm and musicality.
     The choir also sang 2 songs: Campfire and Sansa Kroma. They sounded a bit shy, but the song selection was very unique. I wish they would've sung out a little bit more, because from where I was sitting, practically next to them, they were really quiet. I'm excited to hear them sing at the Winter Concert!
     All in all, the Fall Concert went really well, and I'm happy that I finally got to hear Strings Orchestra. I might try to go to the Winter Strings Concert, if I have time.

A derpy pic of the clarinets, taken right before we played.

Thanks for reading!