Friends and Family Night at Naugatuck High School

Pictured: SoundSport 2015 (Photos 1-7) City Hill Color Guard (Photos 8-10) NHS Winter Percussion (Photos 12-16) and NHS Winter Guard (Photos 17-25) All photos by Nancy Sasso Janis (seriously!)

Friends and Family Night was presented on Friday evening at Naugatuck High School. Parents, siblings and faculty members packed the gym to enjoy this celebration of the music programs that have taken place in two borough schools during the seemingly never-ending winter season.

This was the second year that Friends and Family was held. According to NHS band teacher Robert Hughes, last year’s performances were of a slightly different configuration.

The show opened with the debut performance of the newly formed SoundSport team at City Hill Middle School under the direction of Manny Arboleda. The students were dressed in a rocker version of all black outfits and took to the gym floor to perform two mash up numbers with some pretty impressive choreography. I was impressed with how much progress this group has made since I attended an early rehearsal.

Next up was the City Hill Color Guard and they delighted the audience with a tightly choreographed number clad in black and white costumes. Their volunteer instructors were on hand to make sure the girls were ready to perform.

The Winter Percussion group from Naugatuck High School then brought out their gear for a final performance of their award winning “Drum Machine.” It was a clever combination of awesome drumming performances and a running theme of a wind up machine running out of power. I was impressed with how quickly they removed so much gear after their performance, but working in percussion always requires lots of schlepping.

The show closed with a performance by the NHS Winter Guard group comprised of many graceful and very strong girls and one boy. Clad in gold and spinning flags of orange and gold flags, the group performed to “I See Fire.” The team covered with gym floor with an enormous color coordinated tarp before they began and I loved the confetti touches.

NHS principal Jan Saam attended the evening and was undoubtedly proud of the efforts of her students. At the conclusion of the one hour performance, Mr. Hughes invited audience members to head to the temporary band room and help move all the gear contained therein into the almost complete new band room on the opposite side of the campus.