Click on any blue- or purple-edged image to get a larger version.
18 JUNE 2007:
DISNEY EWOK MAGIC GETS AROUND THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Eric Adams, hands faster
than a camera shutter
Band medleys included the range of old standbys, from Macho Man to the theme from The Magnificent Seven. Audience participation included dancing to the Beer Barrel Polka and singing along with variations on The Victors. This year the tuba-euphonium octet repertoire has rotated back to the Pink Panther theme, which was ably done. Early Bird jazz gave a rousing Jericho, and SB/CB jazz band let 'er rip on Feelin' the Funk.
Percussion ensembles included a symphonic finale, the very cool Sketches of the Orient, and Root Beer Rag. The last is one of my favorite pieces in the MHS percussion catalog, heard now for perhaps the last time. Dave Heilmann, the piece's talented arranged, retires after this year and passes control of the fine McFarland percussion program to a new director.
Eric Adams faced off against a dangerous rival in Quest for the Sacred Drum Bone, and blew the poor fellow away with his amazing stickwork.
11 JUNE 2007:
ORPHEUS, CANADA, AND DVORAK (THOMAS, NOT ANTONIN)
I certainly ought to have mentioned it long ago, but the MHS bands gave a fine holiday concert last December 7. The program featured guest conductor Tom Dvorak, who taught at McFarland from 1967 to 1974, and has since gone on to conduct some of the finest school, university, and honors bands in the nation. He's also a prolific author and a tireless educator.The MHS Concert Band performed Raiph Vaughan Williams' Flourish for Wind Band, a John Cacavas arrangement of Christmas Music for Winds, and Rick Kirby's Different Voices. The last piece was in three movements, titled 'The Spoken - Dialogue', 'Whispers', and 'Voices of Song'; it was meant as a representation of ways in which the human voice can be used as a 'vehicle of communication'.
The Symphonic Band performed Robert Smith's polyrhythmic Spirit of Orpheus, and did a fine job capturing the range of moods from boisterous to sonorously stately. The band's take on Luther Henderson's A Canadian Brass Christmas Suite was very creditable; the arrangement is thoughtful and clever, and demands a certain maturity in its performers. Symphonic Band's segment closed with Matyas Seiber's Irish Trilogy, in a lovely arrangement by Larry Daehn.
The Wind Ensemble opened its portion of the program with Seahawk by Jan Hadermann, a rather braying overture that did not excite me much except for the lovely melody with which the euphoniums open the second section of the piece's ABA structure. Sammy Hazo always produces material that is interesting to play and entertaining to hear, and his Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song, as played by the Wind Ensemble, proved an engrossing programmatic piece. Program notes outlining the tale of a girl and her music box were clarifying, and the music followed the story arc vividly. The concert closed with LeRoy Anderson's A Christmas Festival, a brilliant work that was as usual an audience favorite.
4 JUNE 2007:
ART AND MUSIC AT THE LIBRARY
March was Youth Art Month, and though I haven't gotten around to mentioning it, McFarland's wonderful new
library hosted a showing of student art work. There was plenty of good stuff to see, but on the opening night there was also much to hear. The District music department continued the tradition of providing student music for the evening, including excerpts from upcoming Intermediate School and Middle School programs. Students from he High School vocal and instrumental music departments performed for an hour, and I for one would have liked much more. The Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble, featuring Andrea Bakunowicz and Zach Staszewski, gave us their take on Take Five and Somewhere: both very fine. Blue Notes took these pieces to State. Isis Leonard performed Accolay's A minor violin concerto with great fire and verve, accompanied by her mother. Andrea performed as part of a sax quartet rendering The Entertainer; this group went to State, too. Nora Hickey was amazing in her brilliant performance of Franz Berwald's Konzertstuck for bassoon - with which she has WON THE WYSO CONCERTO COMPETITION! - more on that later. Nick Bakunowicz, on trumpet, teamed up with Jackson Meyer, on soprano sax, for Shades of Jazz - an odd combination of instruments that worked very well. I hope to hear more of these two.
28 MAY 2007:
MHS CABARET SPARKLES WITH DANCE EVOLUTION
On the evening of Saturday 19 May 2007, students in the MHS vocal music performance staged their varied and mostly brilliant annual Cabaret show, under the overall direction of
Anne Nichols.
Highlights included a Blue Notes rendition of Listen to the Music, and Sydney Cook singing What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? to the exciting accompaniment of Joe Dever on piano. The Buhalog Boys (TM) gave an absolutely startling cover performance of Jud Laipply's
Evolution of Dance video (if you have not seen the original yet, check it out). Their version was actually funnier than the original, since there are two of them.
Zach Staszewski and Andrea Bakunowicz were adorable, vivacious, and musically clued in their performance of What I've Been Looking For, from Disney's dreadful High School Musical film. They chose to perform the version done by the Bad Couple in the film - the Couple we as an audience were not supposed to want to win the audition. It's far better than the sappy ballad version the Good Couple sings. Go, Z&A!
21 MAY 2007:
HARDWARE FROM WHITEWATER
The top performers at our District-level WSMA Solo and Ensemble Festival advance to UW-Whitewater for the State Festival there, which this year was held on Saturday 26 April. As usual McFarland was well represented. Musicians from the
Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band, the
Solstice Brass Quartet, and the
Second String Violin Duo were all over the place, bringing home heaps of honors and pounds of medals.
14 MAY 2007:
AUTUMN PLAYS WELL WITH AN AWFUL LOT OF OTHERS
The University of Wisconsin U-Bands performed in Mills Hall on the afternoon of Sunday 6 May 2007, with
Autumn Leonard
on hand under the direction of Michael Lorentz. Autumn's band performed all four movements of P. D. Q. Bach's startling Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion, to wit: 'Grand Entrance', 'Simply Grand Minuet', 'Romance in the Grand Manner', and 'Rondo Mucho Grando'. It was a grand performance. If you have never heard this work, a review probably cannot do it justice - but that's the case with most of Peter Shikele's material. Grand Serenade showcased all of the great composer's trademark elements, including humor, surprise, and pretty good melodies. The band handled all the reed-crowings, foot-shufflings, moanings, and other bizarre elements with wit and aplomb.The program also included Chorale and Alleluia, by Howard Hanson; Gandalf (The Wizard), from John de Meij's first symphony; Blessed Are They, arranged by Barbara Buehlman from the work by Johannes Brahms; and Wisconsin Forward Forever, abstracted by Andrew Glover from the John Philip Sousa march. Gandalf was very nicely handled. The Wisconsin Forward march lacks melodic interest, but I suppose we should listen to it once in a while.
7 MAY 2007:
CHAMBER MUSIC AT MORPHY DEBUTS ISIS' 'WALTZ'
On the afternoon of Saturday 21 April 2007, students in the
Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' (WYSO)
Chamber Music Ensemble program gave a series of fine recitals in the UW's acoustically-challenged Morphy Hall.
Isis Leonard and
Hora Hickey
were on hand with their respective groups, of course. Isis' ensemble performed two movements of Tartini's Sonata for string quartet. The group also gave the world premiere performance of Isis' new composition, Waltz.
30 APRIL 2007:
EASTER BRASS at MCFARLAND LUTHERAN
Frank Ransley and
Quinn Leonard
performed in a brass quartet for two services at
McFarland Lutheran Church
on Easter Sunday, 8 April 2007. Handbell and vocal choirs also performed, all under the well-practiced direction of
Glenn Nielsen
23 APRIL 2007:
MHS WIND ENSEMBLE SMASHES WINDOWS
On Tuesday 27 March, the MHS Wind Ensemble and the Concert and Symphonic Bands gave a well-received concert. Their performances were interspersed by examples of the many entries MHS is sending to the WSMA State Solo and Ensemble Festival at UW-Whitewater on 28 April; the smorgasbord of music was a real treat. Nora Hickey (WitR 2005 - 2006, SS 2004 - 2006) performed an excerpt from Franz Berwald's Konzertstuck for bassoon and orchestra, accompanied tonight by DeAnn Larson on piano; Nora is a winner of the 2007 Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' (WYSO) Concerto Competition, a singular honor. Nora was, of course, all over the piece.
Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) was part of a saxophone quartet performing an attractive arrangement of The Entertainer, which is advancing to State. The Concert Band played Pierre LaPlante's Riversongs and Barry Kopetz' From the Cedars to the Mountains.
Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) gave a smoking rendition of Prestidigitation, a snare drum solo with which he is sure to win his 1 rating at State. The Symphonic Band gave us Sammy Nestico's Vaquero and Giovannini's Overture in B Flat.
The Wind Ensemble performed Robert Xavier Rodriguez' exciting Smash the Windows, and a briskly-tempoed Festive Overture, by Shostokovich. In between, Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2006) played Accolay's violin Concerto in A Minor, accompanied by Kathy Leonard.
16 APRIL 2007:
STATE SOLO & ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL SCHEDULES
Complete schedules the State Solo and Ensemble Festival at the UW-Whitewater on Saturday 28 April 2007, have been posted on the
WSMA Web site. I have extracted all the events featuring MHS students, and these schedules can be found here, sorted
by PERFORMANCE TIMEand, for any WSMA numerology junkies out there,
by STUDENT NAME,
by WSMA EVENT NUMBER.Remember that ensembles are listed under the name of one student only, and that student may not be yours.
9 APRIL 2007:
MHS CHOIRS TACKLE FAURE'S REQUIEM
The combined MHS Concert Choir, A Cappella Choir, and Band/Choir Choir combined forces on the evening of Monday 19 March 2007 for a stirring performance of Gabriel Faure's Requiem. The singers presented a very mature and nuanced interpretation, thanks certainly to director Anne Nichols' superb efforts as teacher and wrangler. Meg Johnson was particularly excellent as the soloist in the Pie Jesu; she has a fine snowy innocent purity to her voice - suppressed even-numbered harmonics? I enjoyed her solo very much. My, this is a Romantic piece, isn't it? It just drips. Ms. Nichols got the choir both to understand the piece's logic and to feel its sentiment. More cannot be asked for.Many members of the choirs are travelling to New York in April, where they will sing the Requiem in Carnegie Hall (!) with members of other select choirs from across the United States.
Monday evening's concert was made even more luscious by a smorgasbord of performances by MHS Solo and Ensemble participants. Naturally, the highlight of these was the Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble, including perky AITDJB members Zach Staszewski and Andrea Bakunowicz. The arrangement of Somewhere, from Leonard Bernstein's creatively impoverished West Side Story score, was beautiful. It can serve as an example that there are a few Bernstein melodies that can be salvaged and put into settings where they work very well. But I still much preferred the Blue Notes' rendition of Take 5. If they were not enjoying singing it, they do an excellent impersonation. Blue Notes will be at the State Solo and Ensemble Festival at the end of April.