Monica LaSalle, Nederland. One must admit, despite cold and flu season the band must play on. Which is exactly what the NMSHS band and orchestra did Tuesday night for their spring concert. In fact, the High School Band was so short, it only had 4 musicians well enough to perform. This did not stop them or the rest of the band and orchestra from wrapping the audience around their little fingers with beautifully timed melodies from songs such as A Gypsy Tale, by Soon Hee, the opener for the Middle Level Orchestra.

They followed up with Sinfonia in D, by Elliot Del Borgo, a somewhat tropical feeling piece, to remind us all that spring break is a mere week away. Despite the threat of a major snow storm, which caused administrators to pre-emptively close school the next day, the High School Orchestra came on stage next to perform Jupiter by Gustav Holst, a spacey piece that was followed up with Over the Rainbow, by Harold Arlen, and Serendipity Suite, by Richard Meyer, which featured solo works Fit as a Fiddle, Sol-La Viola, Cello Pudding and Oasis for Basses.

All the pieces enabled the musicians to show off the best of their chosen instruments, strutting their stuff to plucky tunes and melodies like the budding professionals they are.

Soon after, the brass hit the stage with Flash! By Brian Beck, performed by the High School Band turned quartet for the evening. They were joined by the Middle Level Players for Prelude and Energico, by James Swearingen, and Commando Overture, by John Kinyon, finished off the evening with a blanket of warmth reinforcing us all against the impending cold.

One thing is for certain; this evening it was extremely evident that these students have been putting as much time and effort into honing their skills with their chosen instruments as they are toward playing as a group. One can expect great things to come as these artists continue to grow.

(Originally published in the March 21, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)