Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. As the school year winds down, the Nederland Middle Senior High School choirs, band and orchestra have rehearsed and performed in two previous concerts and had their finale concert last Tuesday night. It is amazing how much was learned in the past six month’s classes, an indication of how much can be learned in the future.

A large group of sixth graders began with the basics in the fall, were hesitant on stage and didn’t always hit the right notes. Last Tuesday night, they combined sounds to play Power and Pulse and Sahara Crossing, as well as Ride and get cheers from the audience.

Director Christine Mallery led the high school orchestra in their version of Wood Splitter Fanfare and then a dramatic version of Elephas Maximus featuring senior Karen Sorokach on the bass. Karen has been a rock with the orchestra, trying her hand at several different instruments and winning the National Orchestra Award.

The concert ended with Sydney Mayhew and Allison Hardt-Zeman singing a duet, “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” accompanied by the high school band.

School ends for the summer and many of the instruments will be put away, but in the fall, their muscle memory will twitch and they’ll dust off the brass and strings and percussions and become more and more skilled, one note, one chord, at a time.