Jamie Lammers, Nederland. The music students of Nederland Middle-Senior High recently demonstrated their passion for the art form in concert events that took place over two evenings. It started on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, at 7 p.m., with the middle level and high school band and orchestras holding their spring 2020 concert. 

The middle-level orchestra opened the night with renditions of Secret Agent 440 and Variations on an Irish Tune. The middle-level band followed with performances of Rocky Mountain Romp and Saxology (which prominently featured the saxophone section, of course).

The high school orchestra performed Hyperdrive, Symphony No. 8: Unfinished and Red Rock Rag before the Twintet Quartet (consisting of Aya and Keahi Pelkhum-Donahue and Jake and Emily Geels) played Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. The high school band closed the night with a performance of the classic Queen song Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

The events continued into Wednesday, March 11th, when the Nederland choirs held their concert events. The night opened up at 5 p.m. with a pasta dinner hosted by the junior class before a dinner theater event at 6 p.m. As the Loquations emceed the event, performing various skits throughout, select students from the middle and high school choirs performed their own pieces. 

Opening the event were acts from the middle-level choirs: Trinity LeBlanc and Kyleigh McLaughlin singing Love is an Open Door; Polina Savich singing Simple; and Maeve Dufton and Aya Pelkhum-Donahue singing Be Kind To Your Parents, Following them were Skylee Barry and Hailey Porter from the festival choir singing Feelings are Fatal. The event concluded with acts from the Loquations: Natalie Taylor and Meagan Figgins performing Feels Like It Only Goes Backwards; Ellie Brewer performing her own mash-up of Anyone and Lightweight; Liesl Nunemacher performing Evermore; Skylar Abookire and Annabel Ivey performing Dream; and Sydney Mayhew performing All of Me.

Finally, at 7 p.m., the 6th and 7th-Grade Choir, 8th-Grade Choir, Festival Choir, and Loquations held their spring 2020 choir concert. The choirs rotated every piece or two, and the Loquations opened the night with their performances of Connected and Backpocket, an arrangement by the choir’s own Natalie Taylor. The concert then literally gave the stage to the Festival Choir as they performed their first of two parts of Dancing Queen: The Best of ABBA, which contained songs such as I Have a Dream, Mamma Mia, SOS, and Take a Chance on Me.

The 8th-Grade Choir performed a medley of classic Disney songs titled Disney Spectacular and the 6th and 7th-Grade Choir performed a medley of dance songs titled Dance Evolution. The Loquations adopted a comedic tone with the Moosebutter pieces Doug and Captain Organic Vegetable Man, and the Festival Choir performed the second part of their ABBA medley, containing songs such as Thank You For The Music, Dancing Queen, I Have A Dream, and Waterloo. The 8th-Grade Choir performed the 60’s classic Stand By Me, the 6th and 7th-Grade Choir performed a line dance, and to close off the night, the Loquations performed renditions of Look Up, Look Down and Seven Bridges Road.

The band/orchestra and choir concerts were a total blast for all of the students involved. They allowed all of the music students to show off what they had learned over the course of the quarter and gave them a night to celebrate their love of music with their friends and family.

(Originally published in the March 19, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)