Glendale prepares for spring concert
Article content
The music continues at Glendale High School in Tillsonburg.
Despite job action taken by teachers earlier in the year, the annual spring concert, albeit modified, is a go.
“Our concert is May 22, the junior band and the senior band will be playing in the concert,” said music teacher Emily Banavage. “
Students participating in this year’s spring concert are part of the repertoire credit program at Glendale.
“We’ve been rehearsing all year because it’s a rep course so the level of repertoire they’re playing is fairly high,” she added.
“The concert is going to be different than what’s expected because normally it’s a longer concert and there would be an intermission, but because of the political situation - we don’t have the Glee Club and we don’t have the jazz band this year,” explained Banavage.
Despite the shortened version of the annual spring concert, it is still a great way to share the work of Glendale music students.
“We just wanted to showcase what we’ve been working on,” Banavage added. “The junior band’s going to play five tunes and the senior band’s going to play four or five tunes as well.”
The concert will be approximately one hour in length with no intermission and begins at 7:30 pm in the gymnasium at Glendale High School.
Banavage said that students have been working diligently to prepare for this year’s spring concert.
“There’ll be a variety of pieces. The junior band is playing at a fairly high level so we’re playing a couple of challenging pieces,” she said.
Selections include a piece called Jungle Dance, with snippets of melodies from Africa and Dance of the Harlequins, a baroque-like tune, as well as some popular songs.
“The senior band is playing four songs that are fairly challenging,” she added. Selections with the senior band include Shaker Variants and Moravian Dance.
“In general, I’ve been working with them on articulation, building a really good sound and a good blend with the group.”
The Grade 9 music class will also perform in the spring concert this year.
On Friday, music students attended a special workshop with a guest musician who taught a specific style of music, introducing a genre that some students may not be familiar with.
“Today is a jazz workshop with my dad, Noel Banavage – he’s a jazz saxophonist from the Barrie area and he came down for the day,” she said. “Students are learning the big band style, which is a 1940’s dance style of music and our focus for today has been to teach the kids about the era, as well we’ve been rehearsing three tunes – Molten Swing, In the Mood and Don’t Mean a Thing from that era.”
Banavage said the spring concert is also a way to re-connect with the community and share the student’s musical talent with the public.
“We want to hold onto the same standard of excellence that has always existed here at Glendale for many years - in terms of the band program. We just want to continue that tradition,” she said.
Although the school has had to work through a difficult situation this year said Banavage, the music will continue.
“It’s not quite the big concert that we would normally have, there is a two dollar suggested donation and it’s mainly money to help cover costs – we’re hoping to get some new repertoire as well as some new music stands,” said Banavage. “It’s a good chance to hear what’s happening at Glendale because even with all the changes this year, the music is still happening and it’s still great music.”
Glendale High School’s spring concert takes place on May 22 and starts at 7:30pm.
kristine.jean@sunmedia.ca