Three Chesterton bands performed at their end-of-quarter concert this past Tuesday. The concert featured the Jazz Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble and was directed by Jonathan Flodder.
Tuesday evening, the concert opened with the co-curricular Jazz Ensemble, made up of no more than twenty students. The reason for this low number of players is the selectiveness of the audition process: this group is the best of the best. They were extremely coordinated and very classy.
The jazz band came out swinging (pun intended) with the medium-tempo song “Stolen Moments.” This lively, classy piece featured no less than four soloists: Cody Brewer and Will Liles on saxophone, Liam Gray on trumpet, and Samantha Ames on trombone. The band then went on to perform “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” a reminiscent and calming ballad that featured Lyric Brown on the trumpet.
“‘Dream a Little Dream With Me’ [was my favorite],” recalled senior Caroline Mills, who plays the clarinet. “I’ve always loved jazz, and they’re always really good. Their music is very expressive.”
This song was actually unique; it came from a file cabinet of arrangements from the ‘80s. Some students took it upon themselves to sort through the hundreds of folders, and they found this gem that Flodder ended up loving. The band ended with a unique march arrangement called “American Patrol.” It was actually directed by Abby Pintoy, a student teacher from Valparaiso University who also assisted the Trojan Guard with their choreography.
The symphonic band was up next, consisting of the intermediate concert band students at Chesterton. They began their set with “Jungle Dance,” an energetic and enjoyable tune that the audience loved, and applauded enthusiastically. Next up, another march directed by Pintoy: “Peace Jubilee March,” a colorful, loud piece. The band ended their section with one of Flodder’s self-proclaimed favorites. “The Maelstrom” by Robert W. Smith, who Flodder described at the concert as “the most prolific composer of his time.” A maelstrom is a huge storm that swirls and folds in on itself, and the symphonic band emulated that beautifully with their unpredictable, impending performance that moved the audience to chills.
Ending the evening was the Wind Ensemble, the most advanced band at CHS. If the previous bands were great, this one was phenomenal. Dressed uniformly in classy black dresses and suits, they opened their set with “Bright Lights!” an allegro arrangement filled with fast, uplifting notes.
“This is one of my favorites,” Flodder told the audience. The band played “Shenandoah” next, a mournful, delicate piece. Flodder described “Shenandoah” as reminding him of his first few years as a band director. The next piece the wind ensemble played was a loud, slightly aggressive yet entertaining arrangement called “Foundry.”
“[My favorite was] probably ‘Foundry.’ I just found the percussion part so interesting,” Mills commented.
A foundry is a metal-working shop where founders work with molten aluminum and iron. The band tried to replicate the atmosphere of a foundry by highlighting the percussion sections’ unique metallic clanging sounds.
Overall, the band left the audience with all the feels, demonstrating their mastery across all genres of music: jazz, marches, ballads, and everything in between.
