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Last semester, music students in the IDMS/HS choir and orchestra classes spent many months preparing music to share with parents, classmates, and teachers at their Winter Concert. Sadly, with mere days left before the performance, a sudden uptick in COVID cases led to the cancellation of all after-school events for the last weeks of the semester. Undaunted, music students spent time during the winter holiday practicing in order not to forget their repertoire, and last month, on the verge of spring, they were finally able to present their Winter Concert. The event featured five ensembles—three orchestras directed by Mr. Janko and two choirs directed by Dr. Shamov—and each gave a musically thrilling performance that was well worth the wait!
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Year One Orchestra
The first group to perform was the Year One Orchestra. The thirteen middle school students in this music class only began playing their instruments last September. Of course, learning a new instrument is a huge undertaking. Playing any instrument with accurate intonation and a steady rhythm takes tremendous concentration, and more still to play together with other classmates playing other instruments that all must sound harmonious together. In their first such performance in front of a live audience, the Year One Orchestra students delivered a dramatic rendition of Beyond The Thunder, a piece for young orchestra players by Deborah Monday.
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Middle School Orchestra
Next up was the Middle School Orchestra. Students in this class have all been playing for at least one year, and some for much longer than that. The audience could surely hear the maturity in the sound of these players as they performed two sophisticated pieces of repertoire. The first piece was Epic Adventure by Kathryn Griesinger, and as the name suggests, the piece evokes countless stories of brave heroes on dangerous journeys. The Middle School Orchestra continued with a classic, an adaptation of Winter, one of Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concerti. This piece was chosen to fit the mood of a concert in December, but even in March, the Middle School Orchestra’s performance conveyed the fierceness of a cold winter storm.
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High School Orchestra
The final group of string musicians to perform was the High School Orchestra. The students in this class represent some of the most accomplished musicians in the IDMS/HS, and they stunned everyone with performances of four very unique pieces. First up was a setting of an old but not well known Christmas carol, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and even though Christmas was already more than two months past, the beautiful melody of this carol was as poignant as ever. Next, the High School Orchestra played a very modern, very energetic piece, Wired by Lauren Bernofsky, filled with fast rhythms and interlocking syncopations. That frenetic piece was followed by a beautiful and lyrical piece, Lullaby to the Moon by Brian Balmages, that left the whole theater in a state of peace and calm. To finish their portion of the program, the High School Orchestra performed a movement from one of the most famous pieces of classical music, W. A. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40. Altogether, the High School Orchestra’s performance was emotionally charged from beginning to end, showing off the students’ technical skill and their expressiveness.
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Middle School Choir
Next, it was time for the choir students to showcase their singing skills. The students of the Middle School Choir kicked off this part of the program with "Solfeggio" by Rob Maxwell, a piece that starts off like a simple choral warmup but that ends in a demonstration the excellent vocal technique of the choir members. The next number was “Stabat mater dolorosa” by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, a movement from a larger work that has been popular around the world for more than 300 years. All the students performed this traditional piece with great passion, including their talented accompanist, Cherry Shen from Grade 8.
The Middle School Choir then went on to amaze the audience once more by performing Dr. Shamov's arrangement of "One More Light" by Linkin Park. As the lights on stage went out and the music began to play, the choir members lit small candles in their hands. The atmosphere was mesmerizing, and the audience erupted with applause each time the choir sang the refrain "Who cares?...Well, I do!"
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High School Choir
The last ensemble to take the stage was the High School Choir, and their first number was a contemporary song for a mixed choir, "SiSi Ni Moja" by Jacob Naverud. The song title means "we are together" in Swahili, and fittingly, the choir members’ resonant voices inspired a sense of unity as they sang. For their next piece, the choir was accompanied by Richard Yang on drums, Sophia Ji on piano, and Kelvin Li on guitar in a performance of “I Lived” by One Republic. The lyrics of this popular song communicate a valuable message for students: "don't be afraid of anything, and fill your life with results, knowledge, and success!" The audience was clearly receptive to the positive message of this song, singing along with the musicians on stage at each chorus.
The High School Choir sang the final verse of “I Lived,” but the show was not over quite yet. The Middle School Choir students took once more to the stage to join the High School Choir, and the 85 singers together sang "Joy to the World," one of the most famous Christmas carols of all time. Though it’s been 300 years since the composer G. F. Handel wrote this piece, the Middle and High School Choirs’ performance was set to an energetic orchestral rock arrangement, and it made for a spectacular ending to the long-awaited Winter Concert.
With more than 130 students performing music spanning four centuries, last month’s Winter Concert was truly a “feast for the ears”. It was a treat watching so many talented young musicians playing and singing with such precision and professionalism.
Happily, no one needs to wait long to see the next performance by these fantastic students. The Spring Concert is scheduled for May 24th, and all the students in orchestra and choir—along with their teachers Mr. Janko and Dr. Shamov—are looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Written by: Mr. Matt Janko
Photos taken by: 张玉佳 Isabel Zhang、赵逸湄 Amy Zhao
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