Public performances are a staple of any school music program. It’s an opportunity for young musicians to display their talents and demonstrate what they have learned throughout the school year. But for more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented ASMSA’s musicians many opportunities to rehearse together much less perform publicly.
But over the next two weeks, ASMSA music students will hold several spring concerts. The performances will be open to small audiences of performers’ immediate family members, students and ASMSA staff — about 100 people for each indoor performance. The concerts will also be streamed live on the school’s Facebook page — facebook.com/armathsciarts — for those who can’t attend in person.
Dr. Thomas Dempster, music instructor and instrumental ensembles director, said he and his students are ready for the opportunity to perform for a live audience.
“I think the students are excited to perform again. Many of them have not since March 2020, and many of their peers have not either,” Dempster said. “I’m happy that we’re at a point where we can perform for smaller audiences, and more than anything, I wanted to make sure our seniors had a few final opportunities at ASMSA to experience the thrill and accomplishment of live performance and to give the rest of our community a little piece of that ‘normality’ that has been so, so elusive for well over a year.”
Concerts to be held include:
- Chamber Music and Student Works, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 4. In addition to selected pieces from professional composers, the concert will feature performances of original works composed by three ASMSA students — sophomore Zephyr Smith, junior Nathan Robinson and senior Steven Lynch. An arrangement of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” will be performed by the band’s brass ensemble and percussionist senior Brian Ruiz.
- Wind Ensemble, 2 p.m., Saturday, May 8. The Wind Ensemble will perform five selections of intermediate and advanced music. They are “all challenging in specific ways, but are all very accessible, buoyant and energetic — a welcome re-entry into the magic of performing in a large group for all of our students,” Dempster said.
- Folk Music Ensemble, 4:30 p.m., Saturday, May 8. This performance includes the students who are in the Folk Music and Acoustics course, a class that combines physics, musical performance and woodworking. Students learn the physics of sound, learn to perform folk music and build their own working instrument. FMA students will perform songs by John Prine, folk band Great Lakes Swimmers, Florence Reece, Joan Baez and more.
- Jazz Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 11. The performance will include selected arrangements of songs by Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter, Charlie Parker, Betty Comden and Wes Montgomery.
The Chamber Music, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble concerts will be held on the second floor of the Creativity and Innovation Complex. The Folk Music Ensemble concert will be held on front lawn area of the Student Center weather permitting. If it is raining, the performance will be moved to the CIC.
Dempster said it’s also an exciting opportunity to highlight the pieces students composed, particularly as part of the music capstone course.
“The three pieces are rather different from each other and explore things like rhythm, harmony, timbre and texture quite differently from each other,” Dempster said. “Zephyr Smith’s ‘Wheat Mill’ is both jazzy in harmony but rhythmically driving; Steven Lynch’s ‘Accoutrement’ is an exploration of pitch and structure; and Nathan Robinson’s ‘Castle on the Hill’ is contemplative, witty and colorful.
“It’s also quite a treat for student composers to get to hear their works come to life, especially when performed by their peers, all great musicians in and of themselves. There’s a magic in having a piece premiered, and all three of these works will great the ears of listeners for the first time.”