Tuesday March 20th was the band concert at Wilsonville High School. A fun evening filled with music and community, it was a joy to be a part of. Before the official start of the concert, there were some chamber groups, small student led groups who play music they picked for themselves. Many of the groups who performed had also recently competed their pieces at the NWOC solo and ensemble competition. At this event, Hugo Romero qualified for state with his flute solo, James Weiser became an alternate for state, and a woodwind ensemble consisting of Chrissy Hutchinson, Isaak Heald, and Vincent Nguyen became alternates playing a piece that Vincent himself wrote. Being able to share the talents of these musicians and many more made the night a fine display of the artistic talent at Wilsonville.

Following the chamber groups was the Jazz Band. This band is an auditioned group that meets every morning before school, and has competed in three competitions thus far this year. The three songs they played, Trouble in Taipei, Portrait of Winnette, and Message from Westlake, are from their festival set that they competed at the Clackamas Community College festival the weekend before, where they took home third place. Jazz songs frequently feature soloists, such as McKenna Bonn-Savage on flugelhorn, who received an award for outstanding soloist at that same festival. Jazz band is a unique way to showcase different elements of the band and specific instrumentalists.

The next band to take the stage was the Concert Band, a group comprised primarily of Freshmen. They performed three pieces, Celebration, A Childhood Hymn, and Ghost fleet. This will be their set for their upcoming festival in April. Although the group is quite young, they play well and the music was nice to listen to.

The final band of the night was the Symphonic Band. This the auditioned group at WVHS that represents the school at the most competitions. They received state qualifying scores at their most recent festival at George Fox University, and are gearing up for more festivals in the near future. Their set consisted of Country Gardens, On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss, and Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.

The spring concert is a display of the more serious music that the bands play, as spring is the season of band competitions. It’s clear from this concert that the bands have been working very hard, and that this competition season is going to be a successful one. Of course, none of this would be possible without the incredible hard work of the band director Mr. Davies. He is at the school before the zero period jazz band at 7:30 AM, is at the school after hours everyday without fail, and attends all of the festivals, many of which are on weekends. The band program produces such fine work and brings home trophies due to a combination of student dedication and the amazing teacher who inspires them. This is clearly on display in the spring concert, culminating in an inspiring evening.