LHS Music Department Shows Off Talent at Collage Concert
Band, Choir, and Orchestra Came Together For One Exciting Night of Music
Justin Scott - School News
25 Nov. 2024
From the contemporary to red fog lights and hard rock, the LAS Fall Collage Concert had a little bit of everything for a packed Lowell Performing Arts Center earlier this month. The collage concert brings together all three parts of the music department; choir, band, and orchestra.
Lowell Area Schools Superintendent Nate Fowler opened up the concert noting how far the music department has come over the years, the memories made through music, and the future orchestra room made possible by the school bond passed last year.
The Opening act of the concert was the Lowell Middle School jazz band led by longtime director Dale Latva. The middle schoolers had the first three acts of the night, the next was a solo by Elinor Flowers on violin accompanied by Dolly Johnson. Levi Lewis on alto sax, along with Will Thomas on bassoon, played the piece “Colors”.
Other LMS pieces in act one included the LMS Fiddle Club and a duet from Fulton Poelma (violin) and Bryce Berry (double bass).
The high school pieces opened with the chamber orchestra who played three pieces, including two pieces by LHS students, “A Totally Normal Piece” by Connor Berrington and “FIREWORKS! In C Major” by Aysha VandenBosch. The quintet of Rex Moore (violin), Lyle O’Boyle (violin), Rowin Keely (viola), Kyle Webster (cello), and Nick Rokos (bass), also performed another LHS student piece which was done by Rokos.
“Playing a piece I wrote felt very vulnerable because the audience became immediately privy to my ideas and thought process. And from what I know from professional composers, that feeling never really goes away,” said VandenBosch. The audience was very receptive and thoroughly enjoyed the performance as with all the musical acts throughout the night.
The LHS duet of Gabs Stadola (clarinet) and Evan Berrington (clarinet) played “Danse Espagnole” or “Spanish Dance”.
Natalie Saylor and Brooke Shellenbarger perform their duet.
Fusion rock orchestra ended the first act of the night with an exciting rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” accompanied by a red lit stage and fog machines, giving a little taste of Halloween even with spooky season over.
Organized in a way that there were no real breaks in the music, duets, solos, and smaller sets were played on the right and left sides of the LPAC stage under the lights. In the darkness in the background, the other acts would set up their acts so as to create a quick transition from piece to piece. It made for a quick night, under two hours, with plenty to enjoy.
In fact there were 21 different performances, including the opening duet of act two, a duet with Brooke Shellenbarger (flute) and Natalie Saylor (clarinet) pictured above.
“It was definitely nervewracking,” Saylor told the Ledger. “When we got on stage there were a lot more people than I had anticipated but it only made me want to do better. When we started playing I had a feeling it was going to go well and it did! It was one of the best times we had played the piece yet and we were both happy with how it went. I will definitely look into performing a duet for the collage concert next year.”
They transitioned us to the LMS 8th grade symphony orchestra center stage who gave way to Rowan Eldred on the piano. Just coming off his tennis season, Eldred played Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”, a moderately difficult piano song thanks to its fast tempo.
Colin Garrison plays under the red lights during LHS Fusion Rock's rendition of "Thriller"
Solos and duets weren’t held to just high schoolers, several middle schoolers played under the lights alone or with a partner including Ellie O’Connor on flute and Anna Bolt on clarinet, playing the piece “Rondo” by Josef Fiala, a famous Czech composer.
Other LMS students performing highlighted acts in the second act were the trio of William Selent (violin), Jaeger Smith (cello), and James Forney (cello), as well as a solo from Kenneth Recor who played the timpani, a drum typically made over a copper bowl.
The LHS choir who had their concert choir with both boys and girls singing “Nine Hundred Miles” in act one also has their girls since “Chili Con Carne”, a jazzy, fun, upbeat concert work from 1989 that probably had the audience thinking about Mexican food for dinner.
Other performances in act two were the LHS symphony orchestra who played the famous imperial march from the Star Wars franchise, as well as a duet from Jenna Niemeyer (violin) and Hannah Tenney (violin).
The quartet of Anna Forney (violin), Julie Celori (violin), Connor Berrington (viola), and Abby Tuuri (cello) led us into the final act of the night which concluded with the Lowell High School symphonic band performing the ensemble “Incantations”.
