Last week the Highland High School Music Department held their Spring Concert that included members of the Jazz Ensemble, Choir and the Concert Band.

The Jazz Ensemble, under the baton of Dan Shaut, led off the concert with ‘Day by Day,’ a 1945 standard by Alex Stordahl and Sammy Cahn that was made famous by Frank Sinatra. This was followed by ‘Corn Bread,’ a 1965 tune by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan.

The last two selections were “Going Up,” by Nick Fiorese and ‘Backbone,’ by jazz trumpeter and composer Thad Jones.

A special group of nine, under the direction of Erin Matthews, included Band Director Dan Shaut and Principal Kevin Murphy singing the a cappella pop song, ‘The Longest Time,’ by Billy Joel.

They were followed by the A-Day Baritones, who sang ‘They Just Keep Moving the Line,’ by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman from the television series ‘Smash.’ The selection ‘Wonderful Life,’ from the 2018 animated feature, ‘Smallfoot, by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick brought this section of the concert to a close.

The A-Day Treble Voices sang the ever popular, ‘Armed Forces Salute,’ a medley of the official theme songs for the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Cost Guard and Space Force.

Composer/arranger/educator Victor Johnson’s ‘Things That Never Die,’ was followed by the highly rhythmic, ‘Ad Astra’ by the American composer and arranger Jacob Narverud, who has been commissioned to write new works for more than fifty choral organizations nationwide.

The ever popular classic, “Bohemian Rhapsody,’ by Queen front-man the late Freddie Mercury, caught everyone’s attention.

Director Dan Shaut returned to the stage with the Concert Band, starting off with,‘Undertow,’ by John Mackey, a work that includes many of the composer’s characteristic techniques, including half-step dissonance, frequent use of mixed meters, heavy percussion effects and a continually repeated phrase or rhythm, known as an ostinato.

The Concert Band then presented the ‘Arabian Dances,’ by conductor, composer, educator Brian Balmages, a Middle Eastern flavored piece that included accompaniment by students playing a variety of drums and percussion popular in the region.

Shaut then took the audience on a trip to the Far East, with a selection entitled, ‘Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song,’ by Samuel Hazo, a composer of music primarily for concert band.

Shaut then went in another direction, this time to the island nation of Cuba, with a piece entitled, “Havana Nights,’ by Randall D. Standridge, a southern born American composer of contemporary music for wind band and orchestra.

The Spring Concert finale included the Concert Band and Choir performing the traditional, ‘America: The Spirit Lives On.”

After the concert, Dan Shaut and Erin Matthews reflected on the evening’s performances, pointing out that the selections for the Spring Concert were all new since their last performance in March.

Shaut said, “the kids work hard” in rehearsing the selections, “and each ensemble has its own program.” He confers with Matthews on how the concert starts and especially what they want to present in the grand finale.

Matthews added, “It is really wonderful to see the kids embrace new music and see them get excited about learning something new and then working really hard to get these parts down and seeing and hearing it just grow and improve class by class.”

Both Shaut and Matthews thanked the school administration, the custodial staff, “and all of the collaboration we have here in supporting us in combined rehearsals and coming to our concerts; everyone is so supportive of what we’re doing here.”

High School Principal Kevin Murphy said these student musicians are, “outstanding. They offered a very diverse selection of music tonight, and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful evening. I’m unbelievably proud of our students who work so hard all year long to get to this point their culminating project for the end of the year. They deserve every recognition and are incredibly talented and outstanding individuals who together produce such amazing music.”