The Southwest band concert occurred on October 18 2022 in the Southwest auditorium. Some songs they played included The Gathering of Eagles, Persian Dance, the World Premiere, Soul Vaccination, and more. 

The students thought they did well, one, in particular, Kat Wenz ‘26 said, “it went well, the song variety was good, and there were a lot of diverse composers”.  

The first group to perform was the symphonic band. They played The Gathering of Eagles, a fast-paced Squamish tune written by Bob Baker and re-imagined for a high school band by Robert Buckley, and Where the Waters Meet, a folk song-inspired piece featured solos from Nate Glig (Trombone) and Rocco Nelson (Trumpet), composed by Carol Brittin Chambers.

The second group to perform was the Wind Ensemble.  They played Incandescence, an electric ballad with staggered entrances in a 3/4 time signature, in contrast to a 4/4 time signature norm. Persian Dance No. 2, written by Adrian Sims had Persian and Hungarian backgrounds and has difficult parts for the tambourine which never fall on the downbeat, written by Amir Molookpour, and Tight Squeeze, a number with a pre-recorded backing and a 12-tone rhythm pattern by using all 12 steps in a chromatic scale, written by Alex Shapiro.

The third group was the Chamber Orchestra.  They played Fugue in G minor, a piece that was originally for the organ and passes the melody around the orchestra written by J.S. Bach and arranged by Francis Grant, Meteor Shower, a calming piece with lots of building of sound and chord changes written by Yukiko Nishimura, and In The Bottoms, a world premiere bringing together over 55 schools, written by R. Nathaniel Dett arranged by Jasmine Pigott.

The fourth group was the Jazz Big Band. They played Soul Vaccination, an anthem to getting vaccinated, composed by Stephen Kupka. The song allowed for time to pass solos around the brass and saxophone sections. The band went on to play Emilio Castillo arranged by Murtha, and State Line Strut, a diverse song with many different styles and instrument solos, written by Ellen Rowe.

Mr. Wixson, the school band director, commented that “it was really exciting. It was a big step forward for a first concert. The World Premiere was my favorite piece because it took a lot of work to put together”. He also mentioned that connecting with over 55 schools to put this piece on was a very memorable experience.

The next band concert will take place in the auditorium on December 8th.