Magnificent music maestro’s play Spring Concert

Daniel Kauzya, Spring Editor

Woodbridge Middle School band rocked the house at the spring concert in the auditorium on May 10th. Jazz and Stage band brought the crowd up with nostalgic songs while the  6th and 7th/8th grade bands knocked them down with melody.

Our sixth grade band hit the audience with classics such as “Amazing Grace” and “Dry Bones”. With this ensemble consisting of the tuba, the three trombones, and a bari-sax. They played these selections so well it got them an excellent rating in the competition that followed two days later (read more about in competition article). “Dry Bones” includes vocals from the sixth graders.

The Stage Band plays addicting songs that you’ve probably been caught singing along to, which are “Anyway You Want It” by Journey and” Bang! Bang!” by Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, and Ariana Grande. With excellent melody from the soprano saxophone, trumpets, and a powerful resonance from the rest of the sax section during “Bang! Bang!”.

The Jazz band was said to be have the “hardest” music by a group of eighth graders, but it “lifted people” with it’s upbeat songs, which were “Take Five” and “Sesame Street”. Ms. Benkert and other band students saying that “Take Five” was the hardest song that played.  It was a tremendous performance from the sax section and trumpets with special recognition to Jason Harrell on the drums.

“Sesame Street”, in the opinion of the eighth grade, brought the crowd back to a time of youth and innocence, with special recognition to the soloist Daniel Kauzya. The Jazz band, according to Ms. Benkert, had the most reaction from the audience and she said, “They played fun songs, they played well, and they played songs that [the crowd] recognized.” The band president Kamil Lemdani stated that “Sesame Street” was the best song “because it sounds nice and jazzy” Lemdani also commented on the song, “Take Five”, “It sounded nice and Jazzy, everyone knew it.”

Lastly, the show-stopper.  The seventh and eighth grade band played as if it were the last day with the selections in order; “New South Wales March”, “Quintus” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, which earned a rating of superior, the highest accolade a band can earn, at the competition the following week. And lastly “Lion Sleeps Tonight” set the tone for the conclusion.  

“You’ll Never Walk Alone” was, by far, the slowest and sweetest song. “New South Wales March”, a song many remember from the eighth grade commencement ceremony, is a strong and, overall, peppy-english-jig-feel.

Ms.Benkert and the seventh grade band said “Quintus” was the best song to come from the concert. Ms.Benkert commented, “They played it the best and the guys worked hard on it”. 6th grader, Jade Stetson, said, “It had a catchy tune”, Isabella Rosano, 7th grader, said, “We did well in dynamics and practiced a lot.  We improved the most from that song”.  And Jake Vasquez said he liked, “How the band played together as one”.
Ms. Benkert commented on the night overall, “Everyone did awesome, and they definitely have things to work on for years to come.”