L.P. Quinn music students perform with style, enthusiasm
by Dan McClelland
Second up on holiday concert week in the Tupper Lake Central School District was the elementary school’s winter concert on Wednesday, December 14.
It was a delightful three part production, under the direction of L.P. Quinn’s second year music director, Alanna Kogut.
The fourth grade band members , using batons and five-gallon buckets as their instruments tackled three Christmas favorites- Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls. Although the vigorous drum-beating by the kids made it a little tough to distinguish the individual songs there was no shortage of enthusiasm by the budding young musicians.
The fourth grade band members wrapped up their Christmas concert with the song, “Happy,” the very upbeat song by Pharrell Williams which is one of the theme songs of the “Minions.”
The fourth grade band members included: Caden Amell, Emmie Brunnette, Piper Davis, Ryan Dewyea, Logan Jones, Elizabeth Kohan, Graham Lanthier, Garrett LaValley, Samuel Mozdzier, Cailyn Norton, Adelyn Peck, Denver Proulx, Avarie Quesnel, Jackson Shore, Tommy Skiff, Anderson Taylor, Ian Taylor, Liam Toohey, Mitchell Utter and Aide Wilber.
Next to perform that evening was the fifth grade band, which performed with traditional instruments.
The first song it played was “Big Bad Band” by Jerry Frazier. Frazer is a master of young band writing. “Big Bad Band” has all the rhythmic elements that excite students and make audiences wonder, can they really play that? The answer was Wednesday night, they certainly could.
The challenging song, “Firebird,” by Igor Stravinsky, was presented by the fifth grade musicians next. It’s a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer. It is based on the Russian fairy tales of the Firebird and the blessing and curse it possesses for its owner.
Many major orchestras around the world have performed it and the fifth grade band did a very good job with the difficult piece.
The band returned to more traditional holiday fare for their last number and even donned red elf caps for their final number, “Rock the Halls,” the hard-driving Christmas rock classic.
Members of the fifth grade band included: flute- Aubrey Beaulieu, Josie Desmarais, Chanelle Whitman; clarinet- Jayden McIntyre, Isabella Sauvageau, Aryanna Snickles-Ottley; alto sax- Addison Curran, Sidney Howard and Martin Hughes; trumpet- Serenity Hare and Peyton Mandigo; trombone- Emma-May Allen and Peyton LaPorte and percussion- Victoria Hukak, Anna Kavanagh, Levi Quesnel and Landon Smithers.
The fourth and fifth grade chorus was the final act that evening, with Elizabeth Cordes accompanying the young singers under Mrs. Kogut’s direction.
The chorus began with the traditional holiday piece, “List to the Bells” and then pulled their kazoos from their pockets to rock the cafetorium with “Kazoo Koncerto.” The kids had a ball with the number.
Their two other songs were Sisi Ni Moja (“We are One”), Jacob Narverud’s very moving Spanish song, and the very lively, “Reindeer Rap” by Sally Albrecht, how the reindeers “rap” they don’t get their fair share of Christmas credit.
Martin Hughes and percussionists Levi Quesnel and Landon Smithers had stand-out roles.
The chorus members included Emma-May Allen, Annabella Baker, Scott Barton, Aubrey Beaulieu, Emmie Brunnette, Martin Hughes, Aubrey Chesbrough, Ryan Dewyea, Elizabeth Kohan, Aria Lanthier, Garrett LaValley, Jayden McIntyre, Chloe Methot, Samuel Mozdzier, Cailyn Norton, Adelyn Peck, Avarie Quesnel, Berlyn Sala, Isabelle Sauvageau, Lance Schaffer, Isabella Schaffer, Natalie Sheldon, Aryanna Snickles-Ottley, Ian Taylor, Railyn White, Aubreigh Whitley, Chloe Wilson and Delainee Wilson.