Good evening. How are you GUYS DOING TONIGHT? >> [applause] >> WOW. YOU GUYS HAVE TO SPEND THE WHOLE NIGHT BEING PROFESSIONAL. I love it. My Hi. You want to wait, Mom? And then you can wait. You want some? My co-host for the evening and a round
OF APPLAUSE, PLEASE. >> [applause] >> WELL, I'M MICHELLE REDA, AND I'M THE SUPERVISOR for the arts programs here in East Brunswick. The very proud supervisor of our programs here in East Brunswick. Um this is one of our more unique concerts. I love it um cuz it
gets to feature our musicians that are one of the most integral, important parts of the ensemble, but are usually very way far in the back, and you don't get to see them, the percussion section. So, in East Brunswick um in addition to
our percussionists learning the music for the concert band or wind ensemble concerts, they also are tasked with learning percussion ensemble repertoire, which is actually really difficult because they have to play a whole variety of different um pitched and non-pitched instruments, which you'll
see a whole large variety of them up here this evening. Um and it really pushes them um to learn a whole set of other skills um that goes beyond just what they kind of do in the back um during a typical concert band performance. So, we're really excited,
and we are going to start this evening with the Hammarskjold fifth grade percussion ensemble under the direction of Mrs. Jane Vanceine. Please give them a ROUND OF APPLAUSE. >> [cheering] [applause] [music] [music]
[music] [music] [applause] [applause] >> THANK YOU, EVERYONE. WHAT A WONDERFUL NIGHT. SO, that was our fifth grade. In just a moment, you will get to hear our sixth grade students from Hammarskjold. Mrs. Caitlin Vanaman will be directing them. Just give us a moment to switch UP THE
STAGE. >> [applause] [applause] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [applause] [applause] >> ALL RIGHT. WHILE WE GET THE STAGE SWITCHED OVER,
uh here at the high school, we have some students who work on individual music, not just their ensemble music. Um both of these students perform with our jazz ensemble, where they have just got done playing some solos this past Sunday night at Crossroads uh club up in
Garwood. Uh Gavin is an all-state percussionist. He's going to perform a snare drum solo for you, and this is just PART OF HIS >> [applause] [applause] >> AND GAVIN IS ACTUALLY THE TOP timpani player and the top battery percussionist
in the state right now. >> [applause and cheering] >> And Maxwell here just got done competing at the WGI World Championships out in Dayton with his indoor drumline. >> [applause] [applause] >> SO, WE'LL START WITH MAXWELL. HE'S
PLAYING A vibraphone solo, a jazzy little number by Holmes percussion called Walking Home, and then we'll invite Gavin back up, and he's going to do a French rudimental solo by Joe Tompkins, who is a teacher at Rutgers University. So, I'll turn it over to Maxwell.
>> [applause] [music] [music] [bell] [music] [bell] [music] [music] [bell] [music] [music] [music and bell] [music] [music]
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[bell] [music] [bell] [music] [bell] [bell] [bell] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> Give it up one more time FOR MAXWELL SIEGEL. >> [applause] >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH
>> [applause] >> for coming out tonight. My name is Gavin Saldano. I'm a junior here at East Brunswick High School, and I just want to let all of the parents and all the kids in the room know that this program is working wonders. I started here just like every other kid, and it has
taken me on a journey that now I'm going to follow into college, and I appreciate so much the work that all of these teachers and all these kids put in every single day in band class. So, I just want to give EVERYONE A HAND. >> [applause] >> I WILL BE PERFORMING
A TOMPKINS RUDIMENTAL SOLO entitled Sloppy Joe's. Thank you. >> [applause] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]
[music] [music] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> Give us just a minute to open the curtain, and then we will welcome Mr. Becker and the seventh grade percussion ENSEMBLE FROM CHURCHILL. >> [applause] [bell]
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>> TESTING, 1 2 3. >> [laughter] >> HELLO EVERYBODY, HOW ARE YOU? I'M MR. BOUVIER. This is the 8th and 9th grade percussion ensemble. We'll be playing a piece In the Sky by Patrick Speranza, and I HOPE YOU ENJOY. >> [applause]
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[bell] [music] [music] [bell] [music] [applause and cheering] [applause] >> AWESOME, THANK YOU SO MUCH. GIVE US A FEW MOMENTS. We'll set up for our next performing group, which is the HONORS PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE.
>> [applause] >> THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AS WE change the stage. As you can see, there are a lot of logistics. They have become masters of organization. So, when you tell them to clean their room, if they tell you they don't they can't, you
watched what they did tonight. They really become very, very independent musicians through this process of learning percussion ensemble repertoire. So, um before this group performs, I want to embarrass them and their directors just
a little bit. So, every February, there is a large music education conference in Atlantic City. It's the New Jersey New Jersey Music Educators Association conference. And school districts have the opportunity to
audition to be able to perform at this conference. And it's a pretty lengthy process. They have to make an audition tape, so that means they have to submit a high-level recording, like a produced recording of themselves performing. They have to submit it very,
very early in the school year, and then it is reviewed by panel of educators, music educators from across the state, and then certain groups are accepted to perform. So, this group was accepted, and they performed in February
beautifully, so professionally this past February. So, please give them a ROUND OF APPLAUSE. >> [applause] [cheering] [applause] >> AND I DO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE MR. BECKER and Mr. Bouvier in that process, because that's really going above and beyond the
duties of their daily teaching, you know, what they have to do, responsibilities. So, also for them to go through that process and do that for the students is really something to acknowledge AS WELL. >> [applause] >> AND >> [applause] >> FINALLY, I'M GOING TO embarrass
specifically [cheering] Mr. Bouvier. So, the Come on, please. The second piece that this group is going to be performing tonight was composed by Mr. BOUVIER. >> [applause and cheering] >> AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, WHICH is a huge
thing in the music profession, his piece was all actually accepted by a publishing house and is going to be published very SOON AT THE >> [cheering] [applause] >> SO, VERY, VERY TALENTED AS WELL. >> [applause]
>> SO, PLEASE enjoy the Churchill Honors Percussion Ensemble. >> [applause] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [bell] [music] [music] [music]
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[applause] >> All righty, that piece was Moonrise by Blake Tyson. Now, that's a really, really interesting piece. You notice there's a lot of metallic instruments, a lot of metal instruments. And I thought it was so unique. The composer actually used his grandparents'
names as inspiration for the notes in the piece. So, you might have heard a bunch of kind of cascading notes that were crossing in and out of each other. And that was to kind of symbolize his grandparents' love for each other. So, I thought it was a really, really unique piece, really, really pretty, almost symbolizing kind of like the whole of
eye. Now, this next piece is a little bit groovy. These students have been working incredibly hard this year. And I really wanted to honor that and give them something. So, this piece is so unique, it hasn't been performed by anybody else yet in the world. It's called Reflections.
And it kind of is a play on words because of their hard work this year. Re meaning to do again or once more because they are so great at, you know, getting the job done. But, I also wanted something to kind of symbolize their teamwork. And the way that they've been working together this year. So, you'll
notice that this setup is really unique. Their setup is facing each other, almost mirroring one another. And these instrument selection is on purpose. We have a few little bell symbols kind of acting like a steady beat all the way through. And you'll notice that they're
kind of doing some something similar and also something not so similar. So, I hope you enjoy our next piece titled Reflections. Give us a few more moments to set it all up and enjoy. >> [applause] [music] [music] [bell]
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>> Thank you all so much. Give us another opportunity to reset the stage and I would like to welcome Mr. and the high school percussion ensembles to the stage now. THANK YOU AGAIN. >> [applause] >> THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE. YOU'D THINK SINCE WE GO TO school here
we'd be really really good at setting the stage up, but it's a little cramped up here and the juniors had testing today. So this is going to be a very interesting performance. On stage right now we have the honors wind ensemble percussion section. This is not a percussion only class. It's in
fact one of the only places in the district where we don't have um other percussionists only in the room or a second teacher. So they really do a lot of this work on their own. That's the training that they get from all the way in their elementary schools coming up just to be readers and independent
learners and putting things together and having musical intuition. And so I am very privileged to work with them. This is a very serious piece by Mr. Creston. Just reading that is it's like heavy percussion ensemble
repertoire. It's fun. It's fun to listen to. But I want to point out before we get started, don't anybody blame the piano player for wrong notes. The piano player is instructed to use their fists
and their flat palms to just mash down keys. So you're going to hear the piano perform some melodic roles, but also some very sort of foreboding dark, just percussive
things. So she's doing everything exactly as the music tells her to. Okay? So this is Paul Creston's Ceremonial Opus 103, the high school honors wind ensemble percussion section. >> [applause]
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[music] [music] [music] [music] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> Okay, so I know it's a little unique to start with the honors group and then move on to the non-audition group, but I also couldn't see it
playing a piece like they're about to play and have everybody up dancing in the aisles and then switch to that kind of heavy thing that the wind ensemble kids did. So this is called Rush Hour Samba. It's exactly what it says it is. It is a samba. It is fun. We're going to feature a vibraphone soloist in the
middle, Mr. LAWRENCE WOO RIGHT HERE. >> [applause] >> SO HERE WE GO, A LITTLE RUSH HOUR SAMBA. Tap your toes, get up and dance, have some fun. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [applause] [bell] [bell]
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[applause] [applause] [applause] >> That was nice. PRETTY GOOD, RIGHT? >> [applause] [cheering] >> I'D LIKE TO REINTRODUCE MY CO-HOST for the evening from earlier, from the fifth grade percussion ensemble. Please give Gabriel a ROUND OF APPLAUSE.
>> [applause] >> AND HE'S GOING TO HELP ME. SO, FIRST WE WANT TO thank all the teachers. So, first Gabriel's going to thank the Hammarskjold teachers. So, go ahead say thank you to Miss Franzen, Miss Friedman >> [applause] [applause]
>> Then we have from Churchill Mr. Becker and Mr. BOUVIER. >> [cheering] [applause] >> AND then at Eastchester High School, of course, MR. TOTES. >> [applause] [applause] >> AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST THANK YOU
EVERYONE AND have a good night. >> [cheering] [applause] [applause]