All photos by Jessica Li.
The Malden High Band performed its yearly Winter Instrumental Music Concert on December 14th, 2022. They performed a total of nine songs. Six different groups came up after each other to perform different songs.
The audience loved the show: one audience member stated “I loved every single song! But my favorite was definitely ‘What a Wonderful World.’”
The songs played were “I Think I like When It Rains” by WILLIS, performed by The Rat King, “Where Is My Mind?” by Pixies, played by Power Rangers, “Yellow” by Coldplay, performed by The Yard Sale, “A Childhood Hymn” by David Holsinger and “Winter Fiesta” by Paul Jennings played by the Concert Band, “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong played by the Senior Chamber Group, and “Epic Venture Grant”, “Adagio Holsinger,” and “A Christmas Festival” played by the Wind Ensemble Group.
LEFT TO RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM: Wind Ensemble playing in unison to “A Christmas Festival” by Leron Anderson; “Yellow” by Coldplay, played by The Yard Sale; Wind Ensemble playing in unison to “A Christmas Festival” by Leron Anderson.
Another audience member said, “I was shocked when I saw one of my favorite songs on the list that they were going to play! Every group was awesome, I loved it!”
Lauren Foley, band teacher at Malden High, said the concert turned out pretty well. Three small ensemble groups, the Concert Band, and a senior chamber group each performed at the event.
“I’m very proud of the work they put in,” Foley said. “…and then we had a senior chamber group that performed a cool arrangement of ‘What A Wonderful World,’ that, I think, was really sweet. And then when an ensemble performed three pieces, which I loved, all those pieces were so high energy. But especially the last piece is, like, one of my personal favorites.”
“We chose some of the pieces based on pieces I’ve played before. Like the last piece that the wood ensemble played…I wanted to make sure that we had some type of winter songs for each year of the bands. The small ensemble groups picked their own, senior chamber groups picked their own.”
This performance has been a long time coming for the band and Foley, as they started to work on the concert in mid-October. It took them nearly three months to prepare for the concert.
With the turnover of the school year, many new small ensembles were created within the band. For many of them, “this is their first performance as group. So they got the bass performance experience there…and then the concert band. I don’t think they have done anything like an after-school concert due to COVID, so I think that was kind of the first for a lot of them.”
Looking ahead to the next concert, Fouley expressed how many members are “really excited for the spring concert for whatever pieces they end up playing.” Foley emphasized how “preparing for the spring concert is going to be a main focus for us moving forward. The ensembles have a couple of field trips and special performances that they’re preparing for, such as the MICCA Concert Festival, and Music of The Parks, which I’m very excited for.”
At the end, every audience member left the auditorium with a smile on their face and the Christmas spirit around them.
LEFT TO RIGHT: Band teacher Lauren Foley addressing the crowd and explaining the concert; Freshman Phi Gold strums “I Think I Like When It Rains” by Willis.
