Sweet Melodies from the Symphonic Band Concerts

Horizon Honors’ symphonic band represented their school with an excellent concert. They began by warming up and tuning their instruments. After they finished, Brian Murphy, the band teacher, hushed the crowd and began the concert.

As the band got up on the stage, the middle school intermediate band students observed and learned from the concert. The first was a march called “The Thunderer,” starting off the night with an energetic and upbeat tempoed song.

Up next was “Nimrod,” which was a connected and passionate piece. Murphy introduced the song by talking about the special meaning of this song: it was about a friend of the composer that encouraged him to continue doing what he loved.

“For the symphonic band, my favorite piece was ‘Dublin Dances,’” said Mr. Murphy of the next song. It contained a traditional Irish melody composed by Jan Van der Roost. This piece ranged over many woodwinds, particularly focusing on higher woodwind sounds. This piece is a showcase for the different sounds that a concert band can produce through the ever changing combinations of different instrument groups, full ensemble sections, and soloists. “There are many different ‘colors’ of sounds expressed in that piece,” explained Murphy.

The last song of the night was “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” which consisted of different tempos and three different parts. It had been learned only that morning due to a last-minute decision, but the performance still managed to sound well-practiced.

Murphy said, “The students worked hard during the course of the quarter to prepare the music and both groups performed well.” “We had a wonderful audience and both bands supportive of one another and a wonderful night of sharing our music with each other and with the audience,” Murphy added. Overall, the performance was well-executed. Congratulations to the musicians in symphonic band!