It was a fantastic last week of school as the JWP bands from grades 5-7 and 8-12 hit the stage for their Christmas-themed concert on Monday, December 16. The several bands that were part of the concert performed many different styles of pieces, from the carol and holiday classics like “Jingle Bells” to suites that told the story of “Santa the Barbarian.”
Grades 5-7 were the first to hit the stage. There was a band for each grade, with the 5th graders performing three traditional pieces: “Hot Cross Buns,” “Good King Wenceslas,” and “Jingle Bells.” The 6th graders followed with the “First Christmas March,” a traditional piece arranged by John O’Reilly, a Jewish traditional song called “The Dreidel Song,” and Timothy Loest’s “Attack of the Garden Gnomes (Christmas Elves).”
The 7th graders capped off the 5-7 performance with four pieces, starting with “A Snowy Christmas Day” by Jerry Williams. Two traditional songs followed, arranged for concert band: “Away in a Manger” by Lloyd Conley and “A Song of Hanukkah” by Robert Sheldon. The finale was Jim Curnow’s “Christmas Echo Hymn.”
Shortly after the conclusion of the 5-7 concert, four bands and ensembles from 8-12 performed, starting with the tuba and euphonium ensemble, which featured Band Director Adam Hille on euphonium with Jaxon Miller, and Charles Adams while Garrett Reinhardt, Jason Wheelock, and Ellie Morsching were on the tuba. The sextet performed three traditional pieces, all arranged by Norlan Bewley: “The First Noel,” “Lo How a Rose is Blooming,” and “Carol of the Bells.”
The jazz band was up next with two songs. Although not a Christmas song, “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong seemed to fit the cozy environment the band seemed to aim for. They also performed a rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” arranged by the band Chicago.
While it is usual to see junior Kayle Langford playing a flute, piccolo, or even a saxophone, she took on lead vocal duties. She did a fantastic job on both songs the jazz band played. Senior Eric Daschner provided the perfect backing harmonies that meshed well with Langford’s voice.
The concert band, mostly consisting of freshmen and sophomores, was up next. They hald only one piece to perform, named “Santa the Barbarian.” However, the symphony had four movements, most of them hard-hitting, loud, and rambunctious. The piece tells the story of Santa the Barbarian terrorizing the world with his cold heart, his gang of pirates, and the cold winter weather, turning everything into a dark, frozen landscape. Eric Daschner provided narrations throughout the piece.
The first three movements of the piece were dedicated to the Barbarian’s reign terror. The first movement was simply called, “Santa the Barbarian.” The second movement was “The Pirates of the North Pole,” with Daschner painting the story of Santa the Barbarian raiding lands across the world with his evil pirates. The third movement, “Snowpocalyse,” was about the Barbarian’s rage causing the world to be engulfed in blizzards and snowstorms. In other words, he gave everyone worldwide the experience of a typical Minnesota winter.
The fourth movement tells of the “origin story” of the jolly-old St. Nicholas we know as the true Santa Claus. In this story, St. Nick is the son of Santa the Barbarian, and he believes that Christmas should be a wonderful time of year, not a terrible one. The two fight, and St. Nick defeats the Barbarian.
The wind ensemble had three pieces, one with two movements. “Adventum,” by Jared Barnes, was the first to be performed. The next was Samuel Hazo’s “The Minnesota Portraits,” which Director Hille explained was inspired by Hazo’s downtime in the Twin Cities. Hennepin County Dawn is the first movement. Rest, the second movement, was inspired by Hazo’s experience in the Mall of America, which was manic and hectic. The last piece, composed by James Swearingen, was “Chesford Portrait.”
While that wrapped up the performances for the band, Hille had one last idea up his sleeve. The program for the 8-12 concert included lyrics to “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Jingle Bells.” He encouraged the audience to sing while the band performed the two classics.
It was a great cap off to the 2024 school year stretch for the band program. The bands have greatly improved in terms of sound quality and harmony over the past couple of years. It sure made this editor get into the spirit of Christmas for the week.
