Ballenas and Kwalikum secondary schools both have their year-end concerts coming up next week.
First up is the Ballenas year-end concert Tuesday, June 5, at 7 p.m. in the Ballenas Secondary School gymnasium. Admission to the concert is by donation.
All of Ballenas’ instrumental and choral ensembles will be performing that evening, which include the Concert Band 8, concert Band 9, Sr. Concert Band, Jr. Jazz Band, Sr. Jazz Band and the Concert Choir.
BSS music director Brent Kellas said all the groups will be performing a variety of festival/contest material as well as popular music.
“All of our instrumental and choral groups earned Silver or Gold ratings at the local festivals this year, so we will be performing some of the pieces that we had prepared for those festivals back in April and the beginning of May,” Kellas said.
He said some highlights will be selections from the movie Moana, the James Bond Skyfall theme, Firework by Katy Perry, a medley of Artie Shaw jazz tunes, some Canadian content by the concert choir and the 60s hit tune Build Me Up Buttercup performed by the concert choir.
Kwalikum Secondary School’s year-end concert is June 6 at 7 p.m. at in the KSS multi-purpose room.
Dan Craven, music director at KSS, said the year-end concert has a lighter focus than some of the other performances the school has done this year. He said there will be familiar melodies, pop and novelty selections, movie themes and fun, energetic tunes.
The following groups will be performing these, and other, selections: Grade 8 Concert Band will perform the Mission Impossible theme; Grade 9 Concert Band will perform Glenn Miller’s classic In the Mood and a Cuban piece called El Manisero (The Peanut Vendor); Grade 10-12 Concert Band will perform soundtrack highlights from Pirates of The Caribbean and a medley of Louis Armstrong’s hits; the Concert Choir will perform the Charlie Brown theme; Vocal Jazz will perform Van Morrison’s Moondance; the Jr. Jazz Band is performing a bright Latin piece titled Poco Loco; and the Sr. Jazz band will perform an energetic New Orleans ‘streetbeat’ style piece titled Pocono Git Down and a groove blues entitled Blues in Hoss Flat that features most of the band members playing improvised solos.
— NEWS Staff