(Clockwise from left) Seventh grader Ethan Mendosa, sophomores Heidi Johnson and Harrison Moon, junior Howard Yuan, sophomore Alex Rogawski, freshman Bill Tsui and junior Annya Dahmani rehearse for their spring concert.
“One of the realities of being a musician is that though we always strive for excellence, no performance is ever perfect,” said band director Bob Ratcliff.
As a part of this push for perfection, Ratcliff will conduct the middle- and high-school band and jazz band’s annual spring concert on Wednesday, April 26.
The concert is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and is expected to last for around an hour according to Ratcliff.
The high-school band will perform three pieces: “Rondo Picoso” by Clifton J. Jones, “Flight Of Fancy” by Timothy Johnson and “Mighty Mite March” by Sean O’Loughlin.
Ratcliff said that in the spring concert, he highlights a senior on a solo. This year senior percussionist Emory Shi will solo on the xylophone in “Flight of Fancy.”
Shi said that he feels prepared for the solo has practiced it a lot, but he is still nervous about accidentally playing the wrong note.
The middle-school band will also perform three pieces.
The jazz band will play two, “Sesos De Huesos” by Beto and the Fairlanes and “Mountain Greenery” by Rodgers and Hart.
According to sophomore percussionist Mehdi Lacombe, “Rondo Picoso” is the most challenging piece the high-school band is playing
“It changes from 3/4 to 4/4 (time) in a lot of weird places, and that catches some people off guard,” LaCombe said.
But Lacombe’s favorite piece is “Mighty Mite March” since, as a drummer, he enjoys the fast pace.
Of the jazz band pieces, junior Lily Brown said her favorite is “Sesos De Huesos” because of its fun-to-play Latin tune.
However, Ratcliff said that he did not have a favorite, remarking that he enjoys all of the pieces and adding, “I hope our audience will as well!”
—By David Situ
