McCallion
Quest

Hazel Musicians Prove That They are a Very Talented Group...

The Spring Concert Wows Parents

By: Jackie Hamilton

 The choirs were warming up, the MC’s were practicing their speeches, and the bands were playing up a storm, but what does this all mean? The concert was finally here.

            The dress rehearsal began on Tuesday, April 25th. Everyone listened to how the microphones sounded, if all the instruments were in tune, and if the soloists were ok. As everyone got excited about hearing the cheers from the crowd, there was also another emotion creeping up their throats; nervousness. We could all feel the sweat beginning to form on our backs, and thinking about getting farther away from the microphones sounded better and better every second. But our teachers, Mr. Ferrin, Ms. Gallino, Ms. Ward, Mrs. Woods, Mr. Van Oostveen, Ms. Spencer and Ms. Trask all helped in comforting us, giving us a feeling that we were going to achieve something great. And as fate might have it, we did.

            Wednesday April 26th started out with the Willow Way Concert, with the parent concert at 7 p.m., and then finally, on Thursday, April 27th, our school got to hear it. The theme of the concerts was Music Around the World, which is exactly what we got to experience.

            Everyone attending tried to get a seat near the front, waiting to hear us. When our Masters of Ceremonies, Privithi and Manasi finally stepped up to the microphone to start everything, we swallowed hard, and took deep breaths. “Welcome to the 2006 HMC Spring Concert...”Starting off, was the junior choir.

            At such a young age, they sounded great, with their high and low notes balancing out beautifully. Next was the junior ensemble. All the members were carefully picked out by Ms. Ward, and with each of their instruments being played together, they sounded in tune, in harmony, and most of all they sounded fantastic! Then came Sarah Simpson’s amazing solo for the song “Oh Danny Boy”, followed by the playing of the Junior Band. It started out a bit shaky, but as the second song rolled around, their playing just got better and better, getting the audience clapping and finger snapping up a storm. After that, keeping with our theme of Music Around the World , the audience was treated to some Indian dancing. As the five girls continually kept twirling and swaying in their colourful costumes, people stared in awe, amazed by all the graceful and meaningful movements. When they were done, the Heart and Soulz started up, astounding the audience with the quality of their voices. Cheers followed them, as the second half of the concert began.

            The lights started to dim down again, and as the MC’s once again took their spots at the front of the stage, everyone quieted down. To start up the second half, the Senior Band blew everyone away with a powerful medley of famous marches which clearly showed how their instruments blended together beautifully. 

            Following them was an incredible solo on the bagpipes by Kaitlin Kimove. It was hard to top these instrumental masterpieces, but the percussion ensemble did their best, meeting the standards. After them, Alyiana Chu performed a beautiful solo, playing the theme from Disney's Pocahontas, entitled “Colours of the Wind”, a piece that successfully showed off her implausible piano skills. Next came the Senior Choir; after struggling in the first song when forgetting a few of the words, they strived their hardest to make the second and third song a hit. In the end, they succeeded, getting tons of applause from the audience. “We saved the best for last” doesn’t even begin to cover the enormous response that the Jazz Band created. With only two songs, they definitely deserved the title of “best in the concert”, as their outstanding music got the audience on their feet.

When the concert reached its end, the screaming fans in the audience cheered wildly towards all the acts, making this concert on of the more memorable concerts that Hazel McCallion Senior Public School has put on in recent years.