The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

The school music program played its part in last week's "Art Week" activities. Both the Elementary and High School made noteworthy contributions to the activities. Last week, the High School held a midweek concert in preparation for the pressure of performing for judges. As a follow up, on Tuesday evening the school presented an encore performance. The full band played several pieces in the High School Auditorium before adjourning to City Hall. After having an opportunity to enjoy the artwork on display, the students who performed in last Wednesday's concert performed their competition pieces while the audience enjoyed dessert. Desserts were meringues with whipped cream and berries, provided by the Black Granary Bakery. The performance was especially enjoyable due to the closer setting, with musicians and vocalists much nearer to the audience than they were in the auditorium. In addition, several items from the original program were eliminated due to students not being able to participate for various reasons. The added performances rounded out the evening well and provided parents and school supporters an opportunity to enjoy all of the competition pieces. The night of performances concluded with a standing ovation from the audience. Heather Wolery summed it up well when she said: "Lots of great talent at the Art Show and Dessert Concert."

Thursday evening, it was FE Miley's opportunity to shine on stage. The annual spring concert kicked off with the 4th grade demonstrating what they have learned on their recorders in preparation for receiving instruments next year. The 5th and 6th grade bands followed up with pieces from movies, a theme that was present throughout the remainder of the performances. Individual performances from the 5th and 6th grade bands started with London Keane playing the Cossack Dance solo on the Flute. Abbey Sietsema and Marquell Houle-Spotted Horse performed a trumpet/flute solo. Lauri Silvan performed a trumpet solo, and Gabe Cline finished off the 5th grade performances with a saxophone solo. Sixth grade special performances included Randi Hardman and Gena Nissen playing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" on saxophone and baritone. Colter Han, Garret LaFurgey, Aiden Morsette, and Thomas Sant played "I'm a Believer." Daijalin Sunchild performed "Let's Go Fly a Kite" on the flute. A trio performance featuring Cody DeHaven, Astrid Ketchum, and Lyndee Worrall finished up the 6th grade portion of the evening. Kristen Burke, Astrid's mother, commented on seeing her daughter sing and play: "This was her last concert of grade school, and it got me thinking how much she has grown. I'm remembering her when she was sitting in the front on stage, not too cool to sing and do the dance moves. It was a bittersweet concert."

Eleven piano solos followed the band portion of the performance. With so many students playing piano, it was surprising when Mr. Bond announced that they couldn't include all of the piano students, due to there being so many. A follow up recital has been scheduled to allow space for all of the budding pianists to show their stuff.

The choral portion of the evening featured songs from holidays that tend to get less concert attention than Christmas and Thanksgiving. All of the performances were fun to watch and exceedingly precious. Casten Heppner, whose children performed in several of the choral portions of the night, commented "I am super proud of all the talented little Pioneers. A huge thank you to Mr. Bond for making the music program so fun and enjoyable for the kids." My own favorite performance of the evening was "I've Been Everywhere Man" performed by the 4th, 5th, and 6th Grade Choir. The song is difficult, with many lyrics to remember, but students sang strong and didn't miss any of the city names. The entire school rounded out the evening singing "Long As The World Goes Round."

Mr. Bond, the music teacher, commented that "Both concerts went really well. I am super proud of all of the students for such wonderful performances." All of the parents I spoke with offered similar sentiments regarding the two evenings of music. Principal Heather Wolery's remark that, "It's always so fun to see what the kids have learned in music; it was a very enjoyable concert," summed the sentiment up well.