Maura Kelley, Reporter
@mkellcourant
On February 4 , the orchestra and band performed a collaborative piece highlighting the time and effort that the students and directors have put into making NCHS home to a successful musical program. Both band director Scott Cranston and orchestra director Leo Ficks have organized this year’s medley to be like no other, and this past production was based on the musical stylings of James Bond.
In the past, the strong fraternization between both the band and orchestra led them to performing a “Carmina Burana” medley with excerpts from “The Messiah”. A Frank Sinatra based medley was executed into the following year’s February recital. This is the third year in which the now-annual medley has taken place, giving both Mr. Cranston and Mr. Ficks confidence in their performance.
The choice of a James Bond performance was made by Mr. Ficks, who has performed this piece as an orchestra director for the Greater Bridgeport Youth Symphony, in addition to having taught at the college level in Pennsylvania. “It’s a real challenge to make the sounds that are produced with the strings, work with the sounds are produced with the band instruments,” Mr. Cranston said.
The collaboration brought a smile to all of the players, directors and spectators. “It’s exciting just to hear this all come together and hearing the experiences of the players expand working in a different setting,” said Mr. Cranston.
Come and see the spring show for the band and orchestra!
