By Dylan Fair
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa band performed its first complete concert of the year, entitled “Snow!,” on Dec. 8 in the auditorium.
This year’s winter concert was centered around snow. Concert band, jazz band, symphonic band, and wind ensemble each performed a variety of pieces that had snow in the title of the song or were snow and wintertime-themed.
“The pieces we are playing allow us to succeed. My favorite song was ‘Glaciers’ because out of the three pieces we were playing, it is the most challenging and the most fun to play,” concert band member and sophomore Casey Choi said.
Concert band took the stage first, performing a total of three pieces. After a short video intro and a projection display of falling snow, the band began to play. “Snow Day Celebration!” was the first piece, followed by “Glacier.” “Torika” from “Lieutenant Kijé Suite” concluded concert band’s performance.
“The new visuals used in ‘Snow!’ were a great success.They really drew the audience into the music on stage,” wind ensemble member and sophomore Braden Currey said. “It definitely got viewers more involved with the performance. It really brought a new element to the on-stage performance.”
After concert band concluded, the jazz band performed its pieces. Without any introduction, it started off with a rendition of “Let It Snow.” It performed “White Christmas” next, accompanied by vocal ensemble member and senior D.J. Stanfill. The performance concluded with the song “Gaining On You.”
“‘Gaining On You’ was definitely the track I was looking forward to playing the most,” jazz band member and senior Brian Tuley said. “It’s an extremely intricate piece that merges hard bop and big band elements seamlessly into one great piece in which we can totally shred.”
Symphonic band was the next group to perform, starting off with “Frosty the Snowman.” It followed with “Snow Caps,” and finished with “Toboggan Ride.”
“I was simply elated by the performances of our groups; to put this entire production together in only four weeks is just incredible,” band director Joel Carlson said. “It really says a lot about our kids and the progression of the bands since the beginning of the year. It was truly a great show,”
Wind ensemble was the final group of the night to play in “Snow!” After a short lead-in from clarinet player and senior Chris Bickel, they played “Sleigh Ride,” followed by “Hennepin County Dawn (Shrouds of Snow)” and “First Movement” from “Minnesota Portraits.”
Before the final track, Carlson gave his thanks and congratulations to select individuals. A performance of “Rocky Point Holiday” concluded the night.
“All you need to do is look at the mixture of traditional and contemporary pieces performed in ‘Snow!’ The unique aspect of the music sets us apart from other band programs,” wind ensemble member and senior Erika Noguchi said. “The band boosters, along with Mr. Carlson and other executives, invested hours of their time into this performance. Such a strong performance so early in the year really says a lot about our program.”
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