http://my.hsj.org http://my.hsj.org en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Wed, 22 May 2013 01:10:57 GMT 15 By Cassandra Price and Jessica Colarossi
Three months of hard work, perseverance, and determination paid off when the Lindenhurst High School winter concerts turned out to be a huge success! With both of the concerts including all of the performing groups in the school, the crowd enjoyed this holiday show of music and dance. The dance ensemble, string orchestra, concert band, and chorus performed on Thursday, December 11, 2008 in the first winter concert of the year. The night started with the dance ensemble, directed by Kristine Lyons and Jillian Denis. Christmas Shoes started the big night with a strong emotional meaning. The story is about a boy who can only afford to buy his mother shoes for her last Christmas. The dancers’ strong opening caught the audience’s attention and left them wanting to see more. Their performances went extremely well according to one of the dancers. "We’ve been working toward this all year, and it was really good to see the response from the audience," said dancer, Kelly Kiesling. Following the dance department was the string orchestra, directed by Elyse Gellert, who is new to Lindenhurst High School. Ironically, their two most memorable songs were Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles, and Plink Plank Plunk, by Leroy Anderson. Though both of these were not in the holiday theme, they were done extremely well and left the crowd cheering wildly. Concert band, directed by Kevin Pike, followed the orchestra. Their first song, A Fireside Christmas, included many different classic Christmas songs such as Rudolph, I’ll be Home for Christmas, Frosty, and Winter Wonderland. The classics were easily recognizable for the audience and sounded great! Mr. Pike was satisfied with how well the band played and his expectations for the Wind Ensemble were even greater, after the the Concert Band’s performance. The chorus closed the night, directed by Mr. Pramnieks. With 114 students singing, they sounded terrific. Altogether there were many mixed feelings about the opening song of Sweeny Todd, which proved to be an interesting choice. Some students felt that the song was not in the holiday mood. However, numerous chorus students were intrigued by the powerful music of Steven Sondheim’s composition. So Mr. Pramnieks decided to keep the song. It was definitely a challenging song for them as well, with outrageous harmonies of SAB. (Soprano Alto Baritone) Luckily, with their hard work it sounded great. Believe, also included in the performance, was one of the most memorable songs of the evening. Winter Concert II, held on Thursday, December 18, 2008, was also a huge success. First to perform was the Symphony Orchestra. A very notable song in their performance was "Into The Storm", which was a very loud and action-packed song. Interest was maintained to "Brazilian Sleigh Bells", which caught the attention of the audience. Joining them in this final song was the Freshmen Orchestra. Mr. Pramnieks, the chorus teacher, also joined them by accompanying on the piano. All of the musicians did movements while playing such as spinning their instruments or bouncing their legs up and down. Overall, they sounded very professional and talented. Performing after them was the wind ensemble. They performed a medley of Native American songs entitled "Songs of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Sky". Some players, such as the clarinet players, sang during parts of the song instead of playing their instrument to make the song more authentic and realistic. They then performed "Greensleeves" which had a good reaction from the audience, but not as good as the final song "Jingle Bells" which received a standing ovation. At the concert, Mr. Pike, the band director, said "These ladies and gentlemen have worked extremely hard this year." Ending the concert was the concert choir, directed by Mr. Pramnieks and his student teacher, Mr. Cerullo. They started off with a Spanish song called "Yo Le Canto". The chorus had a four part harmony as opposed to some choruses which only have three parts. They followed this with the song "Carol of the Bells" which is a very well known song from caroling groups. The a cappella song was performed very well. Another notable song was "Skatin’ with my Baby" which had some singers come off of the risers and scat. It was a very jazzy performance. Their final song was the traditional song "Hallelujah Chorus" which moved everyone. As always, Lindenhurst High School alumni were invited to come up and sing with them for the final song, and so many audience members got a chance to participate in this final performance of the evening. Some students were recognized at both concerts for outstanding achievement or participation in All State chorus, band, or orchestra. However, one student managed to do something that, "was the first time I saw this in my seven years of teaching at Lindenhurst", as Mr. Pike put it. Her name was Adriana Grzywacz and she participated in an all-Eastern band. This performance happens only once every two years, and it was a huge accomplishment on her part. All performances in both Winter Concert I and Winter Concert II deserve a standing ovation. The students’ hard work and determination paid off and was clearly seen in the performances. As the students begin preparing for the spring concerts, Ms. Gellert, the orchestra teacher said, "We are so fortunate here to have an amazing music program." ]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:58:41 GMT