Band to Perform in Concert

Band will perform in its annual spring concert May 13, with the eighth grade opening the performance at 7 p.m. Also, the jazz band will perform for a pep rally at the intermediate school and then travel to the nursing homes in town for a concert next Friday.

“This is such a great opportunity,” junior jazz band member David Thomas said. “We get to share something that we all enjoy with the community.”

The high school concert songs will be selected from Maesong, Salute to Armed Forces, Game of Thrones, Heartbreak Hotel, Shepherd’s Hey, Cupid Shuffle, and marches from next year’s marching show. At the end of the concert, head band director Bill Large will announce the graduating seniors in band, and the rest of the band will play the school song in their honor.

“These seniors are 40 of the best instrumentalists and band people of all time,” Large said. “They have made music fun since the eighth grade. I really hate to see them go.”

Both high school and junior high students play in the jazz band, along with the three band directors. However, there are only seven high school students, so the band directors say they are always looking for new members.

“Jazz band has made me see music in a brand new light,” senior jazz band member Brodrick Rose said. “With four years of jazz band under my belt, I learned to not see music as something to be read and recited but to be felt and experienced at a deeper and more personal level.”

Of the seven high school members, two will graduate this year: Rose and senior Anna Kaye Williams. Both members play saxophone.

“I’m sad to see such good friends go,” Thomas said. “But I hope to motivate and encourage younger players like Anna Kaye and Brodrick did for me.”