By Katie Servas – Staff Reporter

Members of the Jonathan Law choir and band woke up early on February 5 to bring the regional concert to life.

After qualifying for the regional concert earlier this year, many students from the music department have been working hard to improve their technical abilities to execute a spectacular concert last Saturday. 

“The preparation was not too hard but I had to plan out ahead of time how I would be practicing and the things that needed extra work,” sophomore clarinet player Oliver Harrigan said. “The qualifying process wasn’t as tough as it usually would have been due to the online audition instead of having an in person audition which made the process much easier because I could record myself as many times as needed and fix my mistakes along the way.”

Those who prepare for the regional audition rehearse and perfect their scales and pieces to perform well and qualify for the large ensembles. 

While preparing through the week before the concert, the schedule was unexpectedly changed due to the weather forecast. 

With the loss of an entire day due to snow, those who participated only had the opportunity to rehearse their music hours before the concert with the entire band and choir.

“Having rehearsal time cut due to weather was really unfortunate, 7 hours is a really short amount of time when learning music,” junior choir board member Marisa Laviano said. “We still did the best that we could with what we got, we already got into regionals so we can handle anything!”

These students were able to adapt to their schedule change and find time to practice while ensuring themselves and those around them with a great experience. 

“I am incredibly impressed and proud of them,” Choir Director Ms. Jones said. “Given they missed one whole day of rehearsal due to weather and the ensembles were dramatically smaller, it was amazing what our students accomplished.”

Both the choir, and band directors were astonished by the level of adaptability and maturity that showed while the ensembles rehearsed and preformed.

“It is always a great experience to watch our students perform at such a high level,” Band Director Mr. Pelaggi said. “It’s lovely to hear the groups play more challenging works of music and watch the best players in our area perform.”

When reflecting on the entire experience, all of those included returned back to Law with a newfound skill and experience that they were all proud to be a part of.

“While regionals for me is not a challenge per se, I feel anyone would be able to enjoy this ensemble’s experience with its challenges and successes regardless of skill level,” sophomore assistant drum major Christopher Rickard said. “I always learn something from the rehearsal even as an all state musician.”