NEWS: Law Band Performs With 8th Graders At Music In Our Schools Month Concert
(Photo courtesy Mr. Giampietro)
By Anish Sikhinam – Staff Reporter
The Jonathan Law High School band performed with the Milford’s middle school bands to celebrate Music In Our Schools Month on March 19.
The Law band has been working hard throughout the year to play three pieces, one of which they played in collaboration with the eighth grade members in the middle school band.
“The National Association for Music Education has identified March as Music In Our Schools Month, and we use that to make people aware of the role that music education plays in our schools by having these district-wide concerts,” Law band teacher Mr. Giampietro said. “This concert involved students from all over the district, including students from both high schools and all three middle schools.”
The concert was on March 19 at 7:00 p.m. at Foran High School. Foran performed a piece with East Shore Middle School, while Law performed a piece with Harborside and West Shore Middle Schools.
Overall, the Law band played three pieces: “Three Ayres From Gloucester” by Hugh M. Stuart, “Circus Days” by Karl L. King, and “Shadows Unleashed” by Brian Balmages. “Shadows Unleashed” was the piece the Law band played with the eighth graders.
“The most challenging piece was probably ‘Three Ayres From Gloucester’ because each movement is different from the others in terms of style and tempo,” sophomore tuba and trombone player Lucas Greifzu said.
The Law band worked on the music that they played at the concert since January, and some of the music was a work in progress to the band’s concert in May. They also had a ‘field trip’ during school to rehearse with the middle school band.
“The rehearsal with the eighth graders was pretty good,” sophomore drummer Logan Dressel said. “They were super good at listening, they all seemed really interested in what was going on, and I think we’re going to have a lot of interest in the band for next year.”
All in all, the performance was very good, perhaps even better than the band expected.
Sophomore trumpet player Mikey Nunno said the concert was “pretty good.”
“We do this concert every year, this is my fourth year at Law, and that’s definitely the best that our band has played,” said Giampietro. “Again, everyone was well prepared and it just came off nicely.”
The band is currently preparing for their Spring Concert on May 1, and they hope to bring their successes from their Music In Our Schools Month Concert, as well as improve upon it from last time.
“As a whole I think the band needs to work on playing together,” said Greifzu. “Especially for the pieces that we haven’t performed yet, but we are learning the pieces well and I think we will be well prepared for our spring concert.”
The Spring Concert will also feature the string orchestra as well as jazz ensemble in addition to the band.
“We also have a trip to Hershey Park to participate in the Music In The Parks festival, where music teachers will listen to us and give us a rating.” Giampietro said.
The band students are also looking forward to this upcoming concert.
“We’re planning to play this really cool piece called Chant Rituals which is a creepy song reminiscent of old chants,” Dressel said.
Although the Law band has been a busy for a few months overall, they still continue to work hard to perform impressive music.
The Advocate Online 