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Monday, May 13, 2019
Band announces annual awards Band Beau & Sweetheart: Joseph Brennan and Kindle Catching. Most Spirited Boy & Girl: Jordan Griffin and Kelsey Pierce.
Band Booster Scholarships were awarded to Bethany Masters, Taylor Thurman, Kelsey Pierce, Mikayla Doty, and Kindle Catching.
Rookies of the Year: Kevin Bateman and Alyssa Sharp.
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Music from the heart Such joy can be reaped from watching someone do what they were made to do.
Anthony J. Maiello, Conductor and Artistic Director of the American Outstanding Brass Award: Mikayla Samuel Moore- Festival Pops Doty. Orchestra, is Sobel doing just that. Outstanding Woodwind Award: An internationally renowned Jordan Griffin and Kelsey Pierce. conductor and a Professor of Music with George Mason University’s Outstanding Percussion Award: School of Music, he appeared at a Bethany Masters. recent concert at the Hylton Performing Arts Center located Band Award: Bethany Masters, within George Mason University’s Taylor Thurman, and Kindle Prince William campus. He began Catching. this performance, as he nearly always does, by conducting his John Philip Sousa Award: Kelsey orchestra in a moving rendition of Pierce. Band Beau & Sweetheart Kindle The Star-Spangled Banner. “I Catching and Joseph Brennan. always start with the national anthem, and it’s like I’m hearing it for the first time,” he told the audience. Outstanding Volunteer Award: Kaden Bateman and Bethany Van Deren.
Bulldog Run set for Saturday
The concert was intended to be a celebration of movie music. Maiello led the audience in a game of “name that movie,” offering concert-goers the chance to yell out movie titles associated with just a few lines of music. “E.T.,” “Psycho,” and “Star Wars,” among many others, made the cut. “You’re such a wonderful audience,” Maiello kept saying, expressing surprise at the group’s movie recall. As the program progressed, one could not help but be overcome with a sense of pure, unadulterated joy. Maiello was gregarious, engaging and charming throughout the night, leading the audience through a maze of poignant music and moving lyrics. Yet the power behind this journey could be found in something much larger. Music can oftentimes express what words are unable to adequately convey. Such revelations can give birth to a sense of community, along with a connection to something much larger than oneself. The concert itself felt like not only a celebration of cinematic music; but, even more importantly, a celebration of America.
Wading through the audience, he grabbed her arm upon reaching her, dancing in the aisle as the orchestra played on. Exemplifying another wonderful truth as it pertains to beautiful music - the ability to bring people together. For, all can bask in its artful glow. Which brings me to another important note. Sitting in the middle of a college campus provided the perfect setting to analyze the messages we as a society impart to students all across the country. Parents urging their children to shy away from the humanities and the arts, in favor of more profitable career paths such as information technology, science and mathematics. Dollar signs and prestige often motivating such words of wisdom, while completing ignoring the desires of the heart. While violinists, singers, pianists and conductors may not have the same earning potential as an IT executive, does that make the work they do any less impactful? Watching as these talented musicians used wooden instruments to produce beautiful sounds, it was hard not to see the look of joy emanating from so many faces across the stage. The joy they exhibited was infectious, the dedication and skill exemplified by their performances rather inspiring. Perhaps providing a cautionary tale to those audience members who happened to be students. Don’t just follow the money; after all, passion matters, too.
Maiello ended with a nod to the service men and women in the audience, directing his orchestra to play the Armed Forces Salute. “…Without them, we would not be able to live the wonderful life we have…” he said. With each military theme, people stood in recognition of the branch of the military in which they serve (or served), as their fellow Americans greeted them with applause. Watching the faces of those who sprung out of their seats, one could not help but be overwhelmed with a sense of gratefulness. For a country filled with people willing to sacrifice for the greater good. For a room comprised of people willing to support education and the arts, listening to songs created by Many of the featured songs were talented men and women that have “made in America,” as it were. been heard the world over. Looking With a nod to the classics, the towards the future, the potential for orchestra played The Way You further composition and musical Look Tonight, Seventy-Six creation seems endless. What songs Trombones, and Over the Rainbow. will we be singing in the next thirty Some of the music featured even years, as we look back on the served as the lyrics seemingly previous decades? encapsulating certain decades of our shared, collective history. “It “What a beautiful country we have,” wouldn’t be a movie music concert I told my brother as we exited our without Henry Mancini,” Maiello seats after the conclusion of the said near the end of the concert. As program. “I hope we never lose it.” the orchestra played Moon River, a song written by Mancini and Samuel Moore-Sobel is a freelance featured in the classic movie writer. To read more of his work, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Maiello visit exited the stage to find his wife. www.holdingontohopetoday.com
