The School Concert: An Annual Rite of Spring

For parents of school-aged children, late May marks the beginning of the "Year-End Events" season that clogs both day and evening calendars.  Field trips, field days, graduations and moving-up ceremonies are all crammed into a few weeks.  One event that resonates in almost every parent's ear, regardless of age or grade, is the school concert.

On a serene evening last week, my husband and I ventured to the gymnasium of Blessed Pope John XXIII Academy to experience our son Paul and his fellow students' version of this spring ritual. As veterans of more concerts than I'd like to remember, we scouted out seats towards the back, leaving the best for parents and extended families of the youngest students.  We slipped in behind some friends who said, "Guess your son skipped the PAL game tonight, too."

Ah, one of the great challenges of the "End-of-Year Season" is juggling and prioritizing the schedule conflicts which arise almost daily.  However, on this particular night — as we told our friends — the boys were spared the difficult decision because Redwood School also was holding its spring concert, and the game had been postponed.

The concert started promptly at 7 p.m. with brief opening remarks, then began what we'd all come for.  For the next hour and a half, children climbed onto the risers and sang their hearts out, more or less.

Pope John has a Pre-School and Grades K – 8. Thankfully for all concerned, students of two grades were clustered together, allowing kids to sing more songs and significantly cutting down on the real bane of the concerts — that sometimes interminable break between acts. 

The Pre-K and Kindergarten students, all dressed up in sequins, bows and ties, were up first.  Amid "Apples and Bananas," and "Hickory Dickory Dock," my eyes drifted from beaming faces gleefully singing and performing the cute, simple choreography to those who appeared to not remember any lyrics or wanted to be anywhere but in front of a large audience.  Meanwhile, parents craned with their cameras and camcorders to get good shots of darlings in action.  Saving the best for last, the group closed with an animated rendition of "The Wheels on the Bus."  Amid rousing applause, the children exited, many whisked away by their smiling parents to early bedtimes or family celebrations. 

Next, Mr. Jon Lee, the music director at Pope John, got the first and second graders set as students smiled and waved to their parents from the risers. "Rock Around the Alphabet" featured choreography in which the children traced each letter in the air.  At that point a memory popped into my head of a concert my teenagers had appeared in at this age. I inwardly chuckled recalling how the seventy-something music teacher had them performing songs from my grandparents' day and painfully waltzing across the stage with partners. 

Mr. Lee did an excellent job pacing the evening, inserting between each group-sing student performances on musical instruments.  My son, Paul, was on next, playing "Smoke on the Water" in a simple guitar duet with a female classmate.  It marked the beginning of a pleasant shift in the program.

For the better part of the next hour, students sang songs from the Beatles and Eric Clapton, harkening back to music of my youth.  Grades three and four opened with "Yesterday," followed by "Let It Be."  The boys on the risers looked so serious, and the girls smiled.  But I was more amused by the audience reaction. While younger parents politely but dispassionately listened, the older folks were grooving. I spied one father with a graying goatee singing, "Whisper words of wisdom…"  The most fun was when Mr. Lee played the song's riff on his electric guitar.

"Across the Universe" and "Hey Jude" by Grades five and six followed. Typically, as you get deeper into the program — and the ages of the performers rise — the kids' self-consciousness increases and audience attention wanes.  But despite the students who appeared stiff as boards or unknowing of the lyrics, the group gave an enthusiastic routine.  The biggest surprise of the evening, however, was a very enjoyable rendition of "Tears in Heaven" and "We Are a Family" by the seventh and eighth graders. Kudos to Mr. Lee for shaping and motivating a group that usually thinks they're too cool to sing for their parents.

The evening ended with a spirited reprise of "Let It Be" by the entire student body.  At 8:27 p.m., amid screams and thunderous applause, another spring concert came to an end.  Wishing you an equally pleasant experience at yours!

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