By Eli Locke
Sentry Staff Reporter
As the variety show fades away and spring is just around the corner, our school and many of its talented musicians are finally getting into their groove. Groups like marching band, Jazz Band, Jazz Ensemble and others are preparing for a slew of exciting concerts over the next couple of months.
On Friday, March 22, the Yorktown Jazz Combo will be hitting the road and heading down to the Chantilly Jazz Festival. The combo is conducted by Guitar teacher Matthew Rinker. Rinker sees the upcoming festival as “a great opportunity for us to perform, get feedback from some greats in the world of jazz and to receive a professional recording of our performance.”
Pieces the combo will be performing include rock-and-roll classics by Steely Dan and jazzier arrangements of musical pieces like “Out of Nowhere”, which was first made famous by legendary artist Bing Crosby.
Composed of seven members, the jazz group features instruments including clarinet, guitar, bass guitar, drums, and piano. As for the jazz groups they will be competing against, bands and combos are slated to come from locations such as Bethesda, Maryland and even Charlottsville, Virginia.
On May 4 and then May 23, the Jazz Combo as well as the Jazz Big Band will be bringing their jazzy tunes back to school grounds. The Chili Cook-Off featuring the school’s jazz groups is an opportunity for those in the band community to show off their chili-cooking skills. The Chili Cook-Off is slated for May 4, with the time still to be announced. Then, on May 23, the festivities known as Jazz on the Lawn will feature the combo and the Jazz Big Band directed by Advanced Placement music theory teacher, marching band director and symphonic band director Brian Bersh. The school’s Steel Band is also on the set list for this event.
As for the students taking band classes under Bersh, they are already looking forward to the music department’s major field trip for the 2012-2013 school year- a trip to New York City to attend and perform in the Heritage Music Festival. The festival will also involve the students taking chorus classes under chorus teacher Roger Oliver. Besides the high-profile performances, students are looking forward to partaking in events such as viewing a Broadway show, concerts at the Manhattan School of Music, and a tour of the Statue of Liberty.
The talents of the students involved in the choral program will also be showcased on May 14. At 7:00 in the Yorktown Auditorium, the chorus department will be the oldest and most experienced group of students performing in the Pyramid Concert. This concert will include performances from younger choral groups, including singers coming from McKinley Elementary School, Taylor Elementary School, H.B Woodlawn Middle School, and Williamsburg Middle School.
Even though it is only spring, the offseason tends to be short for the talented, hard-working students featured in the prestigious Yorktown Marching Band, also directed by Bersh. After a successful fall season for both the band and the football team, marchers are already preparing for upcoming auditions. It has been announced that auditions for the drumline section of the marching Patriots will be held at the school on during the first week of May. A week after that, auditions for woodwind and brass instruments will commence. Further down the road in August, the marching band will attend band camp in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Band camp is a time to build chemistry among sections and more importantly review what was learned last year in preparation for this year.
Information on any performance involving school-affiliated bands can be accessed by visiting the music department homepage on the school’s website.
On March 14, 15 and 16, some St. Patrick’s Day pre-festivities involving students will be taking place at the Kennedy Center. Representing a strong Celtic and Irish heritage, Grammy-award winners The Cheiftains will be performing a two-hour show under the direction of conductor Emil De Cou. To add to the excitement, senior Grady McDavit will be accompanying the festive music of the Chieftains with an Irish dance. Tickets to this festive event are on sale already.
