On February 28, 2017, the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band concerts took place at 7:00 p.m., and they put on an amazing performance.

First up on stage was the Wind Ensemble. Wind Ensemble is a smaller group, so proper musical balance within each piece is difficult. However, they played their songs beautifully, with no instrument section sticking out.

The first piece they played was “Atlantis,” a loud, fanfare-type piece. Next up was “Canon of Peace,” a soft, slow piece (Eric Best, Band director and conductor for the concert, explained to the crowd that a canon is a piece where a simple melody is played over and over again, supported by many different moving parts behind it.) After that was “Bulldogs on Parade,” a bouncy march. Last, and by far the audience’s favorite, was “And All That Jazz,” which was, true to its name, a catchy jazz song.

After the Wind Ensemble performance, Concert Band came on-stage. They played the same number of pieces as Wind Ensemble, but being a bigger group, they were not limited by size.

They played “The English Guard,” a noble-sounding, dignified song. After that was the dramatic “Huron Trail,” followed by the beautiful “… And Good Night.” As Best explained to the crowd, there are two different stories behind the dedication of  “… And Good Night;” either it’s for the birth of an infant named Jack, or it’s for the death of an infant named Jack. The final song of the night was “Adrenaline Engines,” which was so action-packed and fast-paced that it got everyone’s heart racing.

All in all, it was an incredibly enjoyable concert, and Best and the performers agree.

“The Wind Ensemble and Concert Bands both showed just how much they have grown this year. Their performances showed off their improved musical understanding as well as a greater balance of sound throughout the whole band. I am so fortunate that I get to conduct such wonderful young musicians,” said Best.

Seventh grader John Minium, who plays the baritone in Concert Band, said, “I really enjoyed the concert because I liked being able to perform for the other band as well as being able to hear them perform.” Piper Corey, an eighth grader who plays the euphonium in Wind Ensemble, said, “I thought it was nice to see how far we’ve come as a group. We’ve all gotten so much better over the course of the year.”

Both bands did very well at their concerts and definitely put on a noteworthy performance.