On April 16, 2019 at 7 pm all the middle school bands (grades 6-8) performed their last concert. Each grade level has their own band and each band played 2-3 songs during their portion of the concert. Natalie Palomo the bands’ director stated, “I think the concert went really well. It presented a lot of new performance opportunities for the kids involved, and it is always nice to hear the final product after a lot of hard work and time.”

“The bands have progressed a LOT. My 6th grade band is the beginning band, so they just learned how to play their instruments 8 months ago. Last concert they played all unison music: meaning they all had the same thing as everyone else. This concert we played more music with harmonies and some split parts within sections, meaning they have to be more independent, and they can’t just rely on the people near them to carry the music. My 7th graders got really into their pieces, and played with much more expression and dynamic contrast than they’re used to. That takes a lot of focus and intensive thought during the performance to remember to emote through the music while playing it correctly,” explained Mrs. Palomo.

Mrs. Palomo continued on to discuss how the 8th grade band played more styles of music than they have before and how in doing that they take on more independence as players.

Mrs. Palomo wouldn’t say which part of the concert was her favorite, because she loved just hearing all of the students hard work translate into music, however, she stated, “I really enjoy Winged Victory though, which was the Mass Band piece we did at the end. That song has ALL the band kids, 6th-12th grade, play together, and it’s just really cool hearing the entire program come together, regardless of ability level and experience, to create music together. It’s a unique piece that lets each grade level shine and really gives a good taste of what’s to come to the younger kids, and is a challenge for the older kids at the same time. But really, I liked the entire thing!”