The musical year finished with a bang. The Spring Concert was a wonderful mix of quality music performed by talented students.
At the beginning, the middle school drums performed a short piece, followed by an opening prayer by our principal, Laird Leavitt.
The middle schoolers perform on percussion instruments (Thanks to Rachel for taking these pictures!)
Next, the two piano ensembles performed, followed by the high school choir’s first set.
The choir sang beautifully!
Next, the guitar class performed 4 pieces.
They performed a variety - everything from Bach to Lion King music.
Then it was our turn. Rachel took videos of our performances, but the videos are too large to post here. I’ll try to burn them to a disc for people back home to see!
The first piece we played was a cheerful Mozart sonata. As someone told me later, it really gripped the audience with excitement from the first notes!
I went to use the microphone. I had a little trouble turning it on, but eventually I got it turned on and eventually the sound guys also got it turned on. I said something approximately like this:
“It’s been a fun first year of orchestra class. Four of the students traveled to Berlin this semester and performed at a school and a church. While there, they learned about Felix Mendelssohn, the composer of our next song. We passed by his former residence in Berlin where he probably sat in his garden on a Spring day like today and composed this song.”
Then we played “Spring Song,” a pretty, slow piece.
I again went for the microphone. This time it turned on just fine, but it took the sound guys a while to get it on; I was halfway through my short introduction by the time they got it turned on!
“The next two pieces we will play for you today have spiritual significance. The first comes from the FeG church hymnal. It is based on Psalm 103; ‘Lobe den Herrn’ means ‘Praise the Lord.'”
We played both “Lobe den Herrn” and “Genesis” before I attempted the microphone again. This time, it went on almost right away, but as soon as I started speaking, it made a horrendous screeching noise!!! After it was quiet again and everyone’s ears were ringing, I said,
“The piece you just heard (before the screeching noise) was actually composed by these students in the orchestra.
<At this point the audience applauded>
“It started as our own version of ‘Praise the Lord.’ It became a celebration of God’s creative power and the creativity He planted in each one of these students. Its title reflects both the creativity of the students and God’s own creative work in Genesis.
“Though every student contributed something special to this piece and to the orchestra this semester, I want to take this moment to recognize the extra contribution of one of our members. S., would you stand up? S.S. was enrolled in orchestra class both semesters this year. She has shown great leadership as our only cellist! S., to acknowledge your faithful service to the orchestra for two semesters, please accept this certificate.
<applause>
“Finally, I want to recognize our only senior, J.K. J., would you stand? J. has added life and zest to our orchestra. I think I can say on behalf of the whole orchestra that we will miss your energy, J. As you go on your way, the orchestra would like to present a small gift to you.
<applause – at this point, I handed J. a gift. There was a card signed by the orchestra with 2 Euros for the EisCafe (local ice cream shop), and inside the bag was an orchestra hoodie! J. had been unable to purchase it earlier in the year, so the Berlin crew decided to spend part of the money from the church on Jun’s gift.>
“Our last piece is a goodbye piece, ‘The Turtledove.’ The text is poignant and fitting as we say farewell to Jun, the other seniors at BFA, and all our friends who are leaving after this year. The first verse of this traditional English song reads,
‘Fare you well my dear I must be gone
and leave you for a while
Though I go away I’ll come back again
Though I roam 10,000 miles my dear,
Though I roam 10,000 miles.'”
After playing “The Turtledove,” we exited the stage and let the choir come on for its big ending.
It was the last concert for Michele Phoenix, the choir director. She made it a concert to remember! There were several solos, including one with choreography – “Don’t Stop Believin.'”
4 soloists sang and danced to entertaining choreography
There was a medley of popular tunes by the Beatles. Several kids also had solos in this one.
All the guys did motions for "Yellow Submarine."
The most entertaining song was “What a Wonderful World.” The whole thing was full of props, costumes, and a solo by a student who did a voice impersonation of Louis Armstrong.
"I see friends shaking hands saying 'How do you do?'"
"They're really sayin' 'I love you'"
"I watch them grow; They'll learn so much more than I'll ever know"
"What a Wonderful World"
Michele introduced the final piece of the concert, “Abide with Me,” reminding the everyone that no matter what the future holds and no matter where we go as we disperse to many places in this world, God will never leave us. He always abides with us. He has abided, He is abiding, and He will abide.
Director Tim Shuman closed the concert with a prayer.
It is now the end of a great year of music. It has been a year full of challenges, but everything has been worth it.
What does next year hold? Only God knows, and only time will tell.
Thanks for the cool pictures!!