A Tale of Two Concerts
This past weekend I attended two concerts. First was our community concert. The high school has three concert bands and the top one, Wind Ensemble, plays college level and above music. These are very talented kids and would put some professional concert bands to shame. And yes, I will brag, my oldest daughter is 1st chair clarinet.
Many of you know that I am glad to live where I do, especially when I hear about what other parents go through with their schools and communities. I'm not saying we're perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to say that the overall feeling is of living in a small town, though we are a fair size city. There is a lot of parent involvement with the kids and their schools. Our band parents group raises enough money every year to purchase new instruments, music and extra uniforms (as our entire band will number approximately 225 next year!).
Now, back to the concert. Here is the program. First of all, the concert was entitled An American Celebration - An Old-Fashioned Band Concert and that is exactly what it was. They performed:
Those Who Serve
Star Spangled Banner Just prior to the beginning of this piece, a formal color guard of four of our local Army soldiers brought in the flag and we all sang.
Where Never Lark Nor Eagle Flew Accompanied by slides and video of man's history of flight.
For fun, they performed For Good from "Wicked"
When the Saints Go Marching In and Oh, You Beautiful Doll performed by a saxophone quintet.
And Godzilla Eats Las Vegas which was really funny!
Beautiful Colorado With an amazing solo by one of the senior bassoon players.
American Soldier Introduced by a Lt.Col. Army with a amazing speech about our soldiers, who they are and why they serve. The song was performed by one of the juniors and pictures of our local men and women who are currently serving.
Mansions of the Lord In honor of the fallen.
Salute to America's Finest Where each armed services song was played and those who served or had loved ones in the service to stand and be recognized.
Sing for America An old-fashioned sing along of favorite patriotic songs.
and finally Stars and Stripes Forever
It was a wonderful concert and enjoyed by all.
Now, as to the second concert. This one I did not attend as a patron, but as a volunteer, serving beer, at our local outdoor concert venue. (The band parents are non-profit volunteers raising money for our kids in band...though the tips are all ours!) There were several bands that played and from what I could hear, I was very thankful that neither of my daughters listen to these bands. My youngest has heard some of the songs on the radio, but does not have any of their CDs. The bands were "Fall Out Boys," "All American Rejects," and "Hawthorne Heights." Now, since I really couldn't hear that much of the songs, I cannot honestly say those were bad, but I can say the band members' mouths were. There were a lot of kids under the age of 18 and these band members were swearing up a storm. I don't want my kids hearing that garbage, much less pay to have them hear it!
So, all in all, I have to say Saturday night's concert was much better that Sunday night's concert.
Many of you know that I am glad to live where I do, especially when I hear about what other parents go through with their schools and communities. I'm not saying we're perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to say that the overall feeling is of living in a small town, though we are a fair size city. There is a lot of parent involvement with the kids and their schools. Our band parents group raises enough money every year to purchase new instruments, music and extra uniforms (as our entire band will number approximately 225 next year!).
Now, back to the concert. Here is the program. First of all, the concert was entitled An American Celebration - An Old-Fashioned Band Concert and that is exactly what it was. They performed:
Those Who Serve
Star Spangled Banner Just prior to the beginning of this piece, a formal color guard of four of our local Army soldiers brought in the flag and we all sang.
Where Never Lark Nor Eagle Flew Accompanied by slides and video of man's history of flight.
For fun, they performed For Good from "Wicked"
When the Saints Go Marching In and Oh, You Beautiful Doll performed by a saxophone quintet.
And Godzilla Eats Las Vegas which was really funny!
Beautiful Colorado With an amazing solo by one of the senior bassoon players.
American Soldier Introduced by a Lt.Col. Army with a amazing speech about our soldiers, who they are and why they serve. The song was performed by one of the juniors and pictures of our local men and women who are currently serving.
Mansions of the Lord In honor of the fallen.
Salute to America's Finest Where each armed services song was played and those who served or had loved ones in the service to stand and be recognized.
Sing for America An old-fashioned sing along of favorite patriotic songs.
and finally Stars and Stripes Forever
It was a wonderful concert and enjoyed by all.
Now, as to the second concert. This one I did not attend as a patron, but as a volunteer, serving beer, at our local outdoor concert venue. (The band parents are non-profit volunteers raising money for our kids in band...though the tips are all ours!) There were several bands that played and from what I could hear, I was very thankful that neither of my daughters listen to these bands. My youngest has heard some of the songs on the radio, but does not have any of their CDs. The bands were "Fall Out Boys," "All American Rejects," and "Hawthorne Heights." Now, since I really couldn't hear that much of the songs, I cannot honestly say those were bad, but I can say the band members' mouths were. There were a lot of kids under the age of 18 and these band members were swearing up a storm. I don't want my kids hearing that garbage, much less pay to have them hear it!
So, all in all, I have to say Saturday night's concert was much better that Sunday night's concert.
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