On December 22, the annual high school band concert was performed in the middle school gym. Directed by Mr. Van Bochove, the jazz band took to the stage and performed “Take the ‘A’ Train” by Duke Ellington, “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey, “The First Funky Noel” by Erik Sherburne, and lastly “25 or 5 to 4” by Chicago. The concert band continued with “A Solitary Wish” by Brian Balmages followed by the theme from the popular animated film, “How to Train Your Dragon.” To close, the band played “Sleigh Ride”, a winter tradition. Both the concert band and jazz band had great performances at this concert.

Unfortunately, this year the concert was held virtually to students because of the increase in COVID-19 cases in recent months. Only parents of juniors and seniors who performed in the concert were allowed to attend. Mr. VB maneuvered through a difficult time to present a wonderful performance to PMHS.

“All performances are important to me because it’s our chance to share with the community what we’ve been working on.  Music ensembles learn and create music in order to share it with others, so I’m just so happy to be able to do that again,” said Mr. VB.

Senior soloist Shep Solomine commented on the concert, “It was definitely pretty weird to play in a concert after such a long hiatus. I’m more than grateful that VB and the administration were able to make it possible given the circumstances we’re in!”