Last Thursday the Southwest Bands and Orchestra performed at the Spring Festival Concert. After weeks of constant practice, they showcased numerous pieces such as “Capricho,” “Serenade for Strings,” and a newly written piece called “Just Friends.” The show specifically highlighted the song “Just Friends,” which was written by a recent graduate of St. Olaf named Jack Schabert who made a guest appearance at the show. The concert gave opportunities for students to play solos and show off their hard work, ending the year with a bang.
At this spring concert, a total of five bands and orchestras performed: Jazz one and two, Symphonic band, Wind Ensemble, and Chamber orchestra, with an additional solo performance by Luca Cavalletti (‘25). Each group played a variety of songs ranging from fast and upbeat, such as “Girls Like You,” to slow and more controlled pieces like “Grandmother Song.” With this concert being the last classical concert of the year, the pieces all fell under the category of spring, to connect with the new season. When talking about theme and what made this concert special, Mr. Wixon stated, “My favorite part about being a music teacher is being a part of the musical growth that takes place from August to the spring and how we use each concert to build up and show growth, and are able to finish with a capstone performance like our Spring Festival Concert.”
This concert showcased numerous band and Jazz ensembles from a variety of styles and skill levels. Kicking off the concert, the Banh Mi Jazz Combo welcomed in guests with pre-concert music, with the BLT combo playing transition music between group pieces. Then showcasing a variety of songs that included multiple solos, Jazz Too played several songs that had the audience clapping along. Following this, the symphonic band and the wind ensemble performed three songs each, with the latter ending on the striking piece “Vesuvius” by Frank Ticheli, which takes you through the devastating and terrifying journey of the city Pompeii. Ending the Band performances, Jazz One played a few pieces that stood out to Nao Sabelko-Watson (‘27) who said, “I especially liked listening to and watching jazz one perform!” A hit they played was “Like the Color Green” a song that was made even memorable when the composer Jack Schabert (pictured in photo), arrived and showed support to the students who played his song.
Bringing home their success at the MSHSL String Festival in Wayzata where they won “Best in Site” and earned “Superior” awards for their Chamber pieces, the Orchestra showcased their best pieces at the spring concert. Though their playing went smoothly, the concert did run into a minor setback when the fire alarm went off, but Dr. Bennett managed to shut it off quickly. Playing three songs total, they first accompanied Senior Luca Cavalletti on his IB Music performance of the hit song, “Just Friends” from the Charlie Parker with Strings album. Mr. Wixson called it a show highlight, adding, “Luca absolutely killed it on the solo and it was very well received by the audience!” Additionally the orchestra showcased “Girls Like You”, the Maroon 5 song arrangement as performed by the Vitamin String Quartet from the hit show Bridgerton, and ended strong with the first movement of Elgar’s “Serenade for Strings.”
Overall this concert was a resounding success, and it was clear that the students playing had practiced hard, and put in the effort to fully polish their pieces. Despite interruption, the concert highlighted the southwest music department’s ability to put on an organized and professional performance. After viewing this performance it is clear that the band and orchestra were determined to make their last classical concert a success. Despite it being the last classical concert, they will have one last pop concert to close out the school year, at the Lake Harriet Bandshell Pops Concert and Potluck. If you are interested in seeing what more these musicians have to share, you can see this performance on May 21st, at 6:30, located at the Lake Harriet Bandshell.
