February Update

Dear Wildcat Band Families,

In the past month, the band has been working very hard on music for our upcoming concert in May (May 2nd – save the date!). The first pieces of music we received and have been devoting the most amount of time to are The Bare Necessities, arranged by Paul Murtha, and How To Train Your Dragon, arranged by Sean O’Loughlin. Although they are not quite concert ready, these two pieces have come a long way since we first started working on them. How To Train Your Dragon is our most challenging piece of music for the concert, and all the effort that is being put into it is helping us grow immensely. Next, we received Kyiv, 2022, arranged by Brian Balmages. Written about the war between Russia and Ukraine, this piece is very moving and is essentially a “song of hope” for the people of Ukraine. Written to contrast Balmages earlier work, Moscow, 1941, where Russia was painted as a hero fighting against German advances, Kyiv, 2022, retells the story using the same melodic material, only now used to paint Russia as the aggressor. Balmages incorporates the Ukrainian National Anthem to represent the people of Ukraine. This piece will be performed at our May 2nd Concert in the WHS Gymnasium.

Our newest addition to the folder is On A Hymnsong Of Philip Bliss, arranged by David R. Holsinger. This piece is a collegiate level piece of music, and it adds diversity to our program as it is both slower and more peaceful than our other selections. There may be an additional song added, and we will keep you posted!

As we have been working on these pieces, we have also been adding different things during class to keep the band on their toes. We began working in small mixed-instrument groups, picking our own music and working together without Mr. Ferrara’s conducting. This is a work in progress but will be continued for the rest of the year. These groups are giving students independence in their musical studies, as well as a way to work with peers they don’t usually get to work with. We also recently had a free seating day in class! All stand partners got to choose where in the room they wanted to sit, and had the opportunity to sit next to friends in different sections. This made the class very fun, and we are looking forward to doing it again! Lastly, we are very excited to announce the 2023 Band Ski Trip on March 17-18. All paperwork and the first payment are due Friday, February 10th. We are very excited about the band events coming up in the future!!
-Marni McBride
 Media and Communication Chair