Despite the bone-chilling weather, families eagerly trekked to the gymnasium at Manchester Elementary Middle School (MEMS) for the Sounds of the Season Winter Concert. The standing-room-only crowd created its own warmth for the kindergarten through 8th grade performers who delighted the audience with a program that included an elementary student handbell choir to a middle school rendition of Freddie Mercury’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
“I've been coming to concerts at MEMS for over 70 years,” said one proud grandparent of the January 19th event. “But this is the first time I’ve seen a live performance of Queen.”
MEMS music teachers Hannah Yarwood and Mark Barrett orchestrated the evening’s lineup of tunes. All K-4 students take a general music course that serves as an introduction to chorus and simple instruments. At the concert, this group opened the show from risers in front of the stage with two numbers featuring handbells that captured the spirit of winter: “Snowflakes, Snowflakes” and “Carol of the Bells.”
“It’s not as easy as it looks,” said Barrett. “The kids have worked hard to perform with handbells as a unit to follow the music and hit their notes on schedule. Their enthusiasm and pride lights up the stage.”
The balance of the concert featured both band and choral performances from students in two age groups: Grades 5-6 and Grades 7-8. “In the last four years at MEMS, students can choose to dig deeper into both voice and instrumental music,” said Yarwood. “Many of our band students, for example, also work outside the classroom to improve their craft. Some have auditioned for the Green Mountain Music District V Band, and several of our students were accepted and will represent MEMS at the festival in March. Our kids are only getting started with their musical journeys. Their future is bright.”
The concert band members, all dressed sharply in black and white, performed from the gymnasium stage. The younger group of fifth and sixth graders played homage to one of their animated heroes: “Scooby Doo, Where Are You?” The older seventh and eighth grade band presented their version of the “Theme from Jurassic Park” by John Williams and closed with “Ancient Hunters,” a dramatic composition inspired by the stark beauty of America’s west.
In another nod to the weather, the 5th and 6th grade chorus selected a tune from the Disney animated movie “Frozen.” Their rousing rendition of “Let It Go” caused one preschool spectator sitting on her mother’s knee to spontaneously belt out the line, "Be the good girl you always have to be.”
The penultimate act of the show featured a group of eight girls in a Treble Choir, a choral group that reaches the highest frequency of tone. They sang a tongue-in-cheek Country Western melody about a girl apologizing to her parents: “Tennessee Orange.” Mom and dad are big fans of University of Georgia football and she has fallen in love with a young man from the University of Tennessee. College football fans will understand perfectly.
The 7th-8th Grade Chorus brought down the curtain with three numbers ending with an energized version of the Queen classic. Music instructor Barrett played lead guitar on “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the choir and three soloists supplied the vocal muscle. The crowd stood up, whistled and called out its approval.
After the show, students flocked to Barrett and Yarwood to present them with flowers of appreciation. “Thank you for giving us music as an outlet,” said one student. “It makes us confident, brings us together and gives us joy.”
Bravo!
Music teacher Mark Barrett plays lead guitar for the 7th-8th Grade Chorus rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.
General Music students from the 4th grade get ready for their performance of "Carol of the Bells."
Mark Barrett and Hannah Yarwood beaming with pride after the "Sounds of Winter Concert" at MEMS.