Francesca DeRosa
Arts & Entertainment Editor
This Tuesday, the eighth graders of Saxe Middle School band took to the NCHS stage alongside their older counterparts, following the schools’ eleven-year tradition. The ensembles first played separately (one song by the eighth graders and five by the high school students) then came together, 123 people in all, for the last two pieces.
“It gives students a front-row seat to the high school band experience,” seventh and eighth grade band teacher Ben Kibey said. This window is intended to inspire the rising freshman to continue with their instruments throughout their high school careers.
“It’s cool to see what our future might be if we go into band,” eighth grader Caitlin Morley said. Others agreed, also attesting to the excitment of meeting high school band members.
Sophomore Harrison Besser, however, saw the experience in a more educational light. “They can see what they should strive for, sound like and achieve,” he said.
The selection of pieces were tailored to enhance music fundamentals with its wide variety of styles and themes. “Each piece was picked to better basic fundamentals that musicians strive for,” sophomore Molly James said.
Junior Aubrey Kenefick described the first piece, Metro, as complex “musical representation of the city.” Its complexity was intended to promote cooperation within the band.
Band Director Scott Cranston agreed with Aubrey about the technicality of the pieces. “All the players had challenging technical parts, and with that they had to learn to listen within their sections and to the rest of the band,” he said.
The three classic rock pieces (Whole Lotta Love, Don’t Stop Believing, and The Final Countdown) were intended to pinpoint rhythm and meter change, while Mr. Cranston said that first piece the ensembles played to together, The Beethoven Machine,was about learning how to the better at counting your part, making entrances and watching the conductor.
“It’s a really weird, quirky piece,” Aubrey said. “The rhythms are simple but it’s complex when it comes together because everyone plays something different—no two parts are the same.”
The NCHS Jazz Ensemble opened with four pieces, two of them channeling the holiday spirit. The second piece, Coco Loco, featured four soloists, seniors Portia Schultz on the alto saxophone, Tyler Rhind on the tenor saxophone, Becky Thompson on the trumpet, and Lexi Bodick on the bass.
Overall, Mr. Cranston indicated the concert to be a success. “No one got hurt and having said that, the eighth grade band really stepped up,” he said.
