On December 13th at 11:00 in the morning, Meridian band, choir, and orchestra held their annual winter concert in the middle school gym. Both high school and middle school band, choir, and orchestra students were present and performed a variety of winter classics.
The concert featured the Jazz Band, Honor Band, 6th Period Beginner Band, and 4th Period Beginner Band. The band and choir were directed by Joe Rine, Band and Choral Director. Trisha Beckham was the orchestra teacher for beginning orchestra, after-school orchestra, and high school symphonic orchestra.
The Band and Choir performances included Hard Rock Blues, featuring brass instruments such as trumpets, trombones, and tuba; Aura Lee, featuring woodwinds including clarinets, flutes, and saxophones; and Pep Rally Vamps, featuring percussion. The Jazz Band and Honor Band performed 25 or 6 to 4, which was judged. The Honor Choir performed Winter Time in Texas featuring Amelia Oostdam, Do-Re-Mi featuring Eleanor Gebhart, and I Believe in the Power of You and I featuring Samanvi Gudipalli and Kamille Bunton. The Jazz Band also performed Basie’s Blues. A senior showcase featured Ivan Lee performing Careless Whisper. The John Philip Sousa Award was presented by Assistant Principal Wyatt Verleye. The combined bands performed Jingle Bells, featuring section leaders. The Honor Choir performed Beautiful December, which was judged. The concert concluded with Ode to Joy, performed by the combined bands and choir and judged.
The orchestra portion began with the 6th grade orchestra performing Harvest Reel and Country Gardens by Deborah Monday. Violin solos were performed by Aarohi Guduri and Elisa Corella, Meera Sidharth, Anika Ramkumar, and Jay Chhikara. Sofia Slobodyan performed as the cello soloist. The 7th and 8th grade after-school orchestra performed Rock, Rock Merrily on High by Richard Meyer and Jingle Bells arranged by Pierpont and Monday. The high school orchestra performed Pachelbel’s Christmas arranged by Larry Moore, A Festival Rondo by Richard Meyer, and Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson.
Student performances included classics such as Jingle Bells and Sleigh Ride. Beautiful December sung by the Honor Choir and 25 or 6 to 4 performed by the Jazz and Honor Band were judged based on presentation and execution.
Leading up to the concert, Mr. Rine shared that students spent two months practicing and experienced little to no struggles aside from classes being split during the day. Ms. Beckham shared that her students spent three months practicing and encountered similar problems, stating that it was hard to find time to combine different classes that played together. Despite these challenges, she shared that her favorite part of orchestra was watching students be proud of their own accomplishments in class and in preparation for the concert.
