As another school year draws to a close, Beaver Area High School’s musical ensembles prepared one last performance before summer vacation.
The high school band, directed by Mr. J. P. Scanga, kicked off concert season April 27 with the addition of the high school Show Choir.
Show Choir, directed by choirs director Mrs. Susan Metelsky, typically consists of a singing and dancing ensemble with a musical theme that changes yearly. However, due to this year’s limited student involvement, the Show Choir decided to perform as a vocal jazz group.
Seniors Kaiya Brashears, Emily Garcia, Kara Huber, Grace Jessel, and Ciana Novak, and freshman Katharine Lang comprised this year’s Show Choir.
The choir performed “Lollipop” (The Chordettes), “I Got the Sun in the Morning” (Irving Berlin), and “Route 66” (Bobby Troup) with piano accompaniment from Mrs. Metelsky. Junior Audrey Maize accompanied on electric bass and senior Emilie Kerr on percussion.
The high school band’s first piece was “Soaring” by Eric Morales. This piece was conducted by the band’s student teacher for the quarter, Ms. Greer Wardlaw from Westminster College. This piece featured a solo by sophomore Graham Lovra on trumpet.
The second piece, conducted by Mr. Scanga, was “Rikudim: Four Israeli Folk Dances” by Jan Van der Roost. This piece had four movements and featured several soloists, including sophomore Anthony Tabone on bassoon, sophomore Cailin Downer on flute, junior Brandon Osborne on alto saxophone, senior Brianna Szoszorek on horn, and senior Sydney Christiensen on flute.
Ms. Wardlaw returned to conduct the final piece, “Call to Victory,” a march composed by Carl King.
Throughout the concert, Mr. Scanga presented certain seniors with awards and scholarships and also recognized some students’ accomplishments.
Senior Shannon Witkouski won the Phi Beta Mu Jack Hontz scholarship, named for longtime Pennsylvania music educator Mr. Jack Hontz, an award for students seeking a career in music performance or music education.
Seniors Rebecca Mizer and Daniell Meyer won the Band Parent Scholarship, an essay-based award given by the band program.
Additionally, senior Emilie Kerr won the Director’s Award for the most growth of the ensemble.
Additionally, Mizer and Witkouski both won the John Philip Sousa award, the most prestigious award a high school band student can receive.
Also recognized during the performance were the four students who participated in Pennsylvania Music Educators Association festivals this year: Downer, Mizer, Tabone, and Witkouski. The latter three qualified for Regional Orchestra. Mizer and Witkouski went on to All-State Orchestra, and Witkouski played in the National Association for Music Education ensemble. Mizer performed with the marching band in the National Rose Bowl Parade.
Following the high school band, Mrs. Kristina Graham conducted the district-wide orchestra concert May 12.
The concert opened with middle school orchestra. They played “Westminster Prelude and Fugue,” a piece characterized by the imitation of ringing church bells composed by David Shaffer.
The middle school orchestra then played “Night Shift” by Richard Meyer, a favorite composer within the orchestra program. Middle school concluded their selection with “Arlington Sketches” by Elliot del Borgo.
Following middle school orchestra was the high school performance. These students began their segment with “Allegro” from Sonata No. 1 by Georg Philipp Telemann. The second song performed by high school was “Adieu” by Todd Coleman, a piece featuring an extraordinarily high cello part. They then played “Drifen,” a fast-paced piece by Shirl Jae Atwell.
Finally, the middle school orchestra returned to the stage to perform “Wildest Dreams” by Taylor Swift. This piece was arranged for the Beaver Area orchestra by senior cellist Jessel. This was the third piece Jessel arranged for the orchestra.
Mrs. Graham also recognized and awarded several students.
Three high school orchestra student participated in PMEA festivals this year. Jessel and sophomores Jack Bragg on viola and Ian McCarty-Cogis on bass qualified for District Orchestra and Regional Orchestra.
Mrs. Graham presented three awards to the high school students during the spring concert. This year’s recipient of the Most Improvement award was McCarty-Cogis. The Leadership award was given to junior violinist Brenna Schnupp, and the Senior Musician award went to Jessel.
After the middle school/high school combined piece, Beaver Forte, the orchestra’s after-school rehearsal group, played “City of Steel” by Doug Spata.
Following Beaver Forte were the elementary ensembles assisted by high school students Jessel, McCarty-Cogis, senior violinists Aliah and Kaiya Brashears, and freshman violist Julian Noll. Sixth grade orchestra played “The Wraggle-Taggle Gypsies,” a Scottish folk song arranged by Virginia Croft.
In between short pieces out of their rehearsal books, fifth and sixth grade combined orchestra played “Dragonhunter,” another favorite by Richard Meyer, and “America the Beautiful.”
Fourth grade orchestra was the final ensemble. They played three selections out of their practice books, “Cripple Creek,” “Lil’ Liza Jane,” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
The middle school/high school choirs concert, directed by Mrs. Metelsky, will take place Wednesday.
The spring concerts are a great opportunity for Beaver Area musicians to demonstrate what they’ve learned throughout the school year. This year’s spring concert season has been a delightful send-off for our graduating musicians and a promise for even greater performances from next year’s ensembles.