Winter band concert strikes a stellar chord
By Maitri Rane, social media manager
Diligently practicing for weeks on end, Maria Carrillo High School band held successful winter band shows on Jan. 25 and 26. The concerts featured a selection of student soloists and the world premiere of a “Three Visions for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble” from the professor of classical saxophone from Sonoma State University.
“This was an eight-week rehearsal cycle, so we started probably late October or early November,” mentioned Matthew Bringedahl, the director of instrumental music at MCHS. The students collaborated every day in sections, and Bringedahl continued, saying that jazz band is “a fairly large commitment. If you want to be a good group, you have to have a high level of dedication from all of the members”.
Band split the shows up into two nights: Festival Band along with orchestra, and then jazz ensembles along with combinations of student performers. The first night kicked off with an amazing aura. The performances began with Bringedahl introducing the Festival Band, consisting of 70 people, with a majority of the group being freshmen. The band sounded lively and powerful in every part of the song. Throughout the first song, “Scramble” by Todd Stalter, the tuba joined in and then transitioned into the percussion, adding a tremendously charming spark to the performance. The variation in the song pace added a pleasant twist. Then the orchestra followed, and they jumped in with an exceptionally powerful start.
At the end of the first night, Dr. Andrew Harrison, a professor at Sonoma State University, played “Three Visions for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble.” Dr. Harrison attributes a lot of his success to his mentors and other musicians along the way. One piece of advice that Dr. Harrison would give to someone wanting to play an instrument is to “Practice as much as you can and listen to the best musicians as you can.”
The first performance of the night opened with Combo III, otherwise called “Tenor 11” playing “Song for my Father” by Billie Holiday, which sounded effortless, combining the bass and piano together in a satisfying way. Combo II, also known as “The Jazz Apostles,” started off with “Lullaby of Birdland by George Sheaving.” The sax in this combo was so breathtaking, as well as the harmonious sound of the guitar and piano. The last combo, Combo I, “Carrillo Competition Combo,” which mostly consisted of seniors and juniors, kicked off with “Baja Bossa,” by Oliver Nelson. The whole combo sounded organized and impressive, they had a good sense of professionalism, which made them look incredible.
Noah Vincent-Blatter, a senior at Carrillo who played the trumpet in Combo I, was awesome during the performance. “I think we had some really good soloists that didn't let the stage fright get to them, and that is really hard.”
Matthew Bowker introduced himself as a “co-pilot” for the concert and the Jazz II combo. He had his way of making the audience laugh. The soloist that stood out during this performance was Tony Li, a sophomore at Carrillo, on percussion. Antolin Mendoza, also a sophomore at Carrillo, was a first-time soloist, however, it sounded like he had been performing solos since he could walk.
Bringedahl and Jazz I took over where they started with a song called “Tribute to Art Fern by Rob McConnell.” During this song, as each section played was showcased, they stood up, instruments glinting under the lights: perfectly organized. Towards the end, there was a guest soloist, Skylar Rodriguez, a sophomore at Carrillo, who sang with Jazz I, and she sounded magnificent. It was almost unbelievable that she was singing live, because of how smooth it sounded.
As someone who attended both this concert and the band's fall concert earlier this year, hearing their improvements and witnessing their heightened connection to the music was magical. Like Bowker always says, “You wanna bring the sauce to the performance [and] you want people to remember you.”