Spring Instrumental Concerts Begin May 22

By Jan D'Annunzio

The Piedmont High School and Piedmont Middle School Instrumental Music Departments will present their 2012 Spring Concerts the week of May 22.

Kicking off the spring concert season is the PMS Orchestra Concert on Tuesday, May 22. Under the direction of Catherine DeVos, the PMS Orchestra Concert includes a sixth grade orchestra and an advanced orchestra of seventh and eighth graders.

Jacob Rosenbaum, a junior at Piedmont High School, is assisting DeVos with the Sixth Grade Orchestra this month and will conduct one of the pieces in that portion of the concert.

The Seventh-Eighth Grade Orchestra will perform a range of classical pieces, including an arrangement of Die Meistersinger by Richard Wagner and works by living composers Elliot del Borgo and Bob Phillips. Phillips’ "Classically Bluegrass" is an upbeat fiddle tune that will feature the bass section of the Orchestra.

On Wednesday night, May 23, the PMS Bands will present their Spring Concert, conducted by Andria Mullan. This concert includes performances by two sixth grade bands as well as the PMS Concert Band and PMS Jazz Band, whose members are from the seventh and eighth grades. Music on the program includes an arrangement of Gustav Holst’s "Jupiter" from The Planets as well as "Meet the Flintstones" and "Baggy Pants Blues."

On Thursday evening, May 24, the Piedmont High School Orchestra and Bands will perform the culminating concert of this spring season. The PHS Symphonic Band and the PHS Jazz Band, both conducted by Mullan, and  the PHS String Orchestra, conducted by DeVos, will take the stage.

The concert will feature a variety of instrumental music, including works by Rogers and Hart and by the popular composer of band music Elliot del Borgo.

Freshman Dylan Miller, a member of the PHS Jazz Band, will be the featured soloist on an arrangement of the jazz ballad "Tangerine" and on the jazz standard “My Romance.”

A highlight of the concert will be a performance by the PHS Orchestra of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto #23 in A Major with PHS senior Michael Shi as the piano soloist.

This will be the second performance of the month for the Piedmont High School Orchestra, which just participated in the California Music Education Association (CMEA) Large Ensemble Festival, where they received a Unanimous Superior rating, the highest score possible at this event.

All concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Alan Harvey Theater on the Piedmont High School campus. A voluntary donation of $5 for adults will be requested at the door. Admission is free for students.