So far, I've seen the marching band perform at a pre-game show for parents (awesome!), a couple football games (too distracting), and at a marching band competition (super awesome and distraction-free). But this was my introductory formal concert.
The first thing I noticed was how the kids all looked like waiters in their black pants and white shirts. (I waited for someone to come take my drink order, but apparently, they were too busy tuning their instruments!) Mark and a few other boys upped the look by adding black jackets, and of course, Mark wore his favorite black bow tie. He looked very fancy and professional.
The second thing I noticed was wow, those kids are amazing musicians! Seriously. I attended all the elementary and middle school concerts, but only because my kid played in them, not because they were world-class performances. The younger kids, though they started off rough, usually found their way by the end of the songs. But these high school kids were on a whole different level--they sounded great right from the get-go, and each group sounded better than the last.
In addition to playing more and longer songs, the high school orchestra and bands were also a lot bigger. There were a lot of different groups, too--a jazz band, a jazz combo, an orchestra, the symphonic winds, the concert band, the marching band, and the chamber orchestra. They took turns onstage, waiting for the stage lights to shine on them before playing, and then exiting the stage quietly an precisely after the lights dimmed.
The kids were far less squirrelly onstage prior to performing. Which was a little sad, since that was always the best (and funniest) part of the show at the elementary school concerts.
The show started with the jazz band, which consisted of all boys (most of them on electric guitar) and one girl (on bass). They had a full drum-set and a couple horns. They were pretty good.
The orchestra sat onstage during their performance. The number of violins and cellos was impressive, as was the quality of the music. They played well, too.
Next up was the concert band. I'd read over the printed program multiple times by now, so I was surprised to see Mark onstage, as he was not listed as a member of the concert band (turns out, he played for a kid who couldn't make it). At first, I thought maybe I was wrong and that wasn't him--there are a handful of brown-haired kids with glasses, all dressed alike, so from a distance it's hard to pick out your kid sometimes. But I knew for sure it was Mark when he leaned in and kept talking to the kid next to him, and talked right up until the music started. (Mark's a very social kid!)
He was standing behind the orchestra, so I couldn't really see what he was playing. I thought it might be his regular timpani, but he was using regular drumsticks instead of the timpani mallets. I thought it might be snare drum, but I couldn't hear a snare, so I finally settled on cymbals.
Which I dug for another reason--prior to Mark's concerts, I never realized there were so many different percussion instruments, or ways to play them. I'd always thought of cymbals as something you just hit to make a crashing sound, or hit together to make an even louder crash. But there was Mark, drum sticks in hand, playing a mounted cymbal like a snare drum.
Mark did play the snare for the next band, the symphonic winds. He'd very patiently explained to me what symphonic wind instruments are--"anything that uses wind to make a sound"--and then again, when he saw the confused look on my face --"anything you blow into, like horns, or flutes." But I was still puzzled at how drums are considered wind instruments.
"You move the air to make the sound," he'd said. "The air interacts with the drum head to make the music." I still didn't think of drums as wind instruments, but hey, what do I know? Mark's the true musician in the family.
Next up was the chamber orchestra. These all looked like older students, upperclassmen for sure. They filed into their seats, tuned their instruments, then sat quietly until Mrs. B, the conductor, appeared onstage. She explained to us that this was the most advanced band on campus, and boy, was she right. I don't know any chamber music at all, and if you asked me to a chamber music concert, I'd probably decline. But these kids were spectacular! They were totally at home on stage, playing those violins and cellos in a frenzy. Their bows flew across the violins at rapid speed, until the musicians stopped suddenly, plucking at the strings with their hands. Those kids had a razor-sharp focus, never once looking at their instruments, only staring straight ahead at their sheet music.
I just couldn't get over those kids. They walked onstage as young adults, but the music they coaxed from their instruments betrayed their youth. I was only a few months out of middle-school concerts, but it felt like I'd traveled light-years ahead, musically.
The chamber orchestra left the stage to deafening applause. Apparently, I wasn't the only one they impressed.
I watched the stage crew roll out the instruments for the next group, including the four giant timpani drums, which meant Mark was up again!
I've seen the marching band numerous times, but only outdoors, in big, open spaces. Watching them all cram onto this small stage was really interesting. They had lots of big, loud instruments--the tubas, of course, but also the trumpets, trombones, clarinets and flutes. The concert band used those, too, but the marching band used them completely differently. Their music is much louder, meant to be projected in a stadium, traveling over distances and loud crowds. The band tried to pare that sound down for the indoor auditorium, but it didn't quite work.
It was also funny to watch the musicians. They're used to moving, marching across the field. Obviously, they couldn't do that onstage, so they marched in place, stepping forward every so often in formation.
And they brought a whole different vibe to the concert--a sense of fun. The jazz band brought a sense of cool, and the orchestras brought an air of culture. The band and symphonic winds brought a sense of class--"we are accomplished musicians, listen to how we've mastered our instruments." But the marching band--they brought the beat, the show, the I-wanna-get-up-and-dance. They whipped the crowd into a cheering, clapping, hootin'-and-hollerin' frenzy, exactly what you want at a football game or pep rally. They were limited by the size of the stage, but not by their enthusiasm.
I left the auditorium on a high after that, tapping my fingers and whistling their songs. It was a really great night.
Anyway...this was a very long-winded (symphonic-winded?) way of saying...boy, my kid has come a long way musically in the past couple months. I've run the gamut of emotions during his short career so far--sad that I never see him anymore (he's always at practice), proud of his focus and determination (not usually Mark's strong suits), and pure joy, admiration, and inspiration while watching him (and the other kids) perform.
And excitement. Definitely excitement, both for the progress Mark's made so far, and for the progress he'll make in the next few years. He's come so far in such a short time--I can't wait to see where he'll be a few years from now!
No comments:
Post a Comment