RHAM Fall Concert Review

Yesterday, RHAM High School held their first concert of the 2009/2010 school year. The Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Encore and Chamber Singers performed. The show was a success and a pretty decent crowd attended. The overlying theme of this concert seemed very fast paced, and was nice yet exciting to listen to.

The Symphonic band, conducted by Timothy C. Ketterer, performed first. The band played 3 songs, Colonel Bogey(Kenneth J. Alford), Crossings In Time(Michael Sweeney), and Chorale and Shaker Dance II (John Zdech). The performance didn't fail my expectations. Next, a quintet performed 3 songs that were not listed on the program. The performance was very tuba driven, and had a deeper, yet fast sound. After the quintet performed, the Wind Ensemble played another gathering of 3 songs including Slava (Leonard Bernstein), Across The Halfpipe (Samuel R. Hazo) and Overture to "Candide" (Leonard Bernstein). The Wind Ensemble is always talented, and didn't fall short of any past performances.

After a brief intermission, the choruses were the next on the bill. They had a special "A Celebration of Leonard Bernstein" night, performing pieces from Leonard Bernstein, an American conductor, pianist and composer. Conductor James Mirakian announced that he would be using a backing orchestra piece to accompany the singers. This worked nicely and obviously fit. Both choruses performances were great. A lot of switching between voice types occured, and created a dueling atmosphere in the auditorium. Encore and Chamber Singers performed Gloris Tibi and Sanctus . The Combined Choir's performed a choral medley from West Side Story. The pieces included Tonight, I Feel Pretty, Maria, America, One Hand,One Heart and Somewhere. I particularly enjoyed the West Side Story medley, mostly because they performed popular songs that sounded familiar. Conductor James Mirakian also utilized solos in the 6 pieces, which all were great.

Overall, the concert was a great success and I enjoyed it very much. Both conductors started the year with a bang and I look forward to listening more to the blooming music students.