At the end of the school year, emotions run hot. The melancholy of leaving friends, the excitement for the summer ahead, and the catharsis brought about by fully realizing the extent of your accomplishments over the past year- all of these things were tangible on Wednesday at the Upper School Spring Concert at the Ben Franklin Institute. The 3rd -7th graders brought their ‘A’ game with beautiful, emotionally rich, and expertly executed performances of the music they’ve been fine-tuning over the past semester.
As the concert progressed, it became abundantly clear just how much these students have progressed this year. The Abbaddo Orchestra performed Finlandia, a very challenging piece that only last year was played by the Dudamel Orchestra!
Another especially striking illustration of student progress was the performance by the Ives Winds Ensemble. Having only started learning their instruments in September, these students played with the passion and technical prowess that you would expect from a far more experienced ensemble. The highlight of their performance was the song Happy by Pharrell Williams, which had the whole audience smiling and clapping along.
Lastly, the concert finished with the Dudamel Orchestra, who brilliantly captured the dark emotional intensity of the music from The Dark Knight Rises by Hanz Zimmer as well as the bold heroism of Warriors Legacy by Soon Hee Newbold.
More photos can be found on Shutterfly (remember the password is “music”) and several videos will be posted on our Youtube channel.
Bravo to all!