HHS band has opening concert

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Kathleen Isenegger, A&E Editor

The Howell High School auditorium was filled with the sounds of the band program the evening of Tuesday Oct. 14, as they performed their annual fall concert. Led by band director Jason Smigell, five different groups of students were able to exhibit their musical talent and accomplishments.

The concert, which started at 7 p.m., began with the Percussion Ensemble. This is a group composed of approximately 16 students, who meet in class every day. Music is created solely with percussion instruments, which is different from the traditional band setting with a brass and woodwind section. They played two movements from ‘The Headache Miniatures’: ‘Stress…Relief’ by Scott Ward, and ‘Ragweed’ by Christopher Tucker.

“In Percussion Ensemble, we get harder parts that challenge our musical ability more than it would be in other band classes. We also get more individualized attention,” junior band member Jake Favor says.

As the Percussion Ensemble exited the stage, the Concert Band began to take their seats. This band is composed of almost all freshmen students. They played ‘Above the World’ by Rob Grice, and ‘Storm Warning!’ by Robert Sheldon.

“Our overall performance went fairly well, especially considering this was the first time on stage for some of the students,” freshman band member Will Newell says.

The next group to perform was the Symphonic Band. There is a mixture of sophomores, juniors, and seniors in this class. The level of difficulty of Symphonic Band is inbetween the other two traditional groups, Concert Band and Wind Ensemble. At the concert they played ‘Starlight’ by David Gorham and ‘Whiplash’ by Randall D. Standridge.

“It went decent. I feel like we could’ve done Starlight better, but we pulled off Whiplash very well,” senior band member Christian Harris says.

Next, the Wind Ensemble was up. This group consists of the most talented instrumental musicians HHS has to offer. They performed ‘Villages’ by Michael Sweeny, and “Abram’s Pursuit’ by David R. Holsinger.

“We didn’t really have enough time to prepare both pieces, but what the crowd don’t know, the crowd don’t know,” junior band member Scott McCarty says.

Finally, the last group of the night to perform was the marching band. Dressed fully in uniform, they slow stepped around the audience and up onto the stage. They then played their first show of the season, ‘Daft Punk Medley’, ‘Pompeii’, and ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark’. These were led by the drum majors, rather than Smigell. Following this the marching band played ‘Howell High Forever’, and the concert concluded as the drumline played the audience out.