On November 28, the Bellingham High School Music Department held yet another Fall Collaborative Concert. Jazz Band took the stage first, performing a total of three songs, Dat Dere, Lament, and Watermelon Man. According to director Matt Kenagy, Jazz Band has a particularly strong trombone section this year, so the songs they performed focused heavily on the trombone players. This focus didn’t deter the trombonists from having fun though. They could be seen doing little dances from their row and celebrating when they flawlessly finished their parts.
Then, Chamber Orchestra took the stage. They performed two pieces, Por Una Cabeza and Chimera No.3, the latter of which earned the most applause out of any of the night’s performances. Chimera No.3 is a piece by Doug Wallace, originally written to be a percussion-only piece, but later re-imagined to have strings as well. It features several different meters, and the song is meant to show the journey of a chimera splitting apart and coming back together. To pull this difficult performance off, Chamber Orchestra joined forces with BHS’s percussionists in a stunning show of collaboration.
It was “fine playing by the Chamber Orchestra and percussion,” said Director Nick Strobel.
Next came Varsity Choir, performing Music Down in My Soul, Wide Open Spaces, and Little Bird. Little Bird was Varsity Choir’s dip into a bit of choreography, designed by Elena Ficklin, and was also the only of the three to have a student director, Jenna Lamont.
Finally, the Showstoppers took the stage, performing a total of four numbers. First came Sicut Cervus by Giovanni de la Palestrina, which has the interesting trait of having a crescendo and decrescendo in every line. Originally, performers of pieces like this one only received their part, not the entire song. Showstoppers practiced using this method for a few of their rehearsals, but given that only having a part of the piece is extremely difficult, they also practiced with everyone using the whole song.
The concert itself was “our best rendition of Sicut Cervus,” says Performer Gavrie Brewer.
Next, Showstoppers performed two carols. One, the popular Ukrainian carol, Carol of the Bells, and Betelehemu, a Nigerian carol which has also become incredibly popular. Betelehemu featured drumming as well, with Abby Ormsby taking up the role of percussionist. They closed with a performance of I’m Still Standing, choreographed by Atlas Hovdesven.
“[The Concert] was our best one yet, so I can’t wait to see where we go from here,” said Performer Dawnlynn Chadwick.
“It was a fabulous opportunity to be able to work with all the other higher-level music sections,” said Gavrie Brewer.
