By Ashlyn Armock, Arts Editor
The last weekend of April was busy for students within the music department as groups prepared for three different concerts and performances: Jazz Night, the Hastings Jazz festival and the Spring Choir Concert.
The weekend started on April 24 with jazz students putting on a Night of Jazz; a concert filled with pieces that the group had been working on all semester and as freshman Lauren Espy described varied from “upbeat and funky to groovy and sultry.”
The concert began with Sweet Georgia Brown by Maceo Pinkard, Poultry in Motion by Kris Berg, Dragon Blues by Geoff Keezer and Songbird by Kenny G featuring Daphne Weber on the saxophone.
The Jazz Band performing Songbird by Kenny G – Photo by Aquinas’ music departments Facebook
After a brief intermission, the Jazz Band performed Pink Panther by Henry Mancini and Lone Wolf by Greg Yasinitsky as well as Livin’ Larger than life by Alan Baylock and Whoopin’ Blues arranged by Doug Beach, both featuring Kyle Devine on drums.
The Jazz Night concluded with an encore of Engine No. 9 by Les Hooper. Espy shared she enjoyed making music with her friends and that her favorite part was including Engine No. as the encore. “I thought that it was unique and ended us on a good note,” said Espy.
The next day, the Jazz Band traveled to the Hastings Jazz Festival, a three day annual festival that invites all performers from high school students to adult professionals. There, the group gave an hour-long performance of eight songs including: America the Beautiful by Samuel Ward, Ben Jammin’ by Aquinas’ former band director, Paul Brewer, Blue Skies by Irving Berlin featuring vocalist Espy, In Your Own Sweet Way by Dave Brubeck and Just a Closer Walk arranged by Dean Sorenson.
The weekend concluded with the Spring Choir Concert at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel on campus, featuring all three of the choirs: College Chorus, Chamber Singers and Aquinas’ Vocal Ensemble (AVE).
After opening with the school’s Alma Mater and the National Anthem, the College Chorus then performed Ave Maria by James MacMillian featuring the organ played by Johnathan Bading, the organist at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
The next part of the concert featured AVE, as they performed two pieces, Speak Softly Love by Nino Rota and A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square by Manning Sherwin.
AVE performing A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square – Photo by Gracen Spiteri
Following AVE, Chamber singers performed three pieces from their Lenten Mediations tour week: Ubi Caritas by Maurice Durufle, O Vos Omnes by Pablos Casals and Tenebrae factae sunt by Michael Haydn.
After a short intermission, the rest of the College Chorus came back up to perform two more pieces, beginning with all three movements of John Rutter’s Gloria. College Chorus’s performance of Rutter’s Gloria included an eight piece brass ensemble, various percussion parts, the timpani and the organ.
“I really enjoyed the concert, we all worked really hard and our concert really gave us an opportunity to show it,” junior Mary Kampe said. “My favorite part was specifically the “Rex coelestis” part of the second movement of John Rutter’s Gloria, being in the middle of it all was almost an out-of-body experience.”
To wrap up the concert the College Chorus performed Jabberwocky by Sam Pottle. The piece, based on a poem found in the novel Through the Looking Glass–the sequel to Alice in Wonderland–by Lewis Carroll, included small instruments that members of the choir got to play during the performance such as a bird whistle, the triangle, a baby rattle and the tambourine.
Upcoming concerts and performances for all groups within Aquinas’ Music Department can be found in the link below:
https://www.aquinas.edu/academics/music/concerts-and-events.html
The Saint 