What a celebration! Thursday, December 2nd was the first time Trinity College School’s music students have performed in the Dick and Jane LeVan Theatre since March 2020. So many songs that were performed were favourites and had been lovingly played over the past many months.
First on the program was Trinity Winds conducted by Mrs. Nicola Lee. This concert band is made up of musicians from all grades who successfully auditioned in the fall. The first number was an exciting piece by Todd Stalter called Escape Route. It is a piece that focuses on musical explorations of the many different actions implied in its title, such as quickness, stealth, boldness, evasion, elusiveness, and the adrenaline rush that accompanies them. The second piece that was performed by Trinity Winds is a contrasting piece called Blue written by R.W. Smith. Simple, yet elegant and graceful, Blue is much more lyrical with beautiful harmonic changes rooted in American jazz. Silas Hodges started this piece with a solo on the clarinet. Thanks to Mr. Xander de Beer for helping with the Trinity Winds this term, especially for contributing his sound on the timpani drums and for his mentorship.
Mr. Chip Mihailescu conducted the Trinity Strings, which is comprised of two trios of intermediate and beginner string players. The first trio made its concert debut with a three-part version of Deck the Halls. The second trio performed a beautiful rendition of Dance of the Little Swans from Swan Lake.
A fantastic violin solo rounded out the string portion of the program. Arjun Sharma executed an outstanding version of J.S. Bach’s third movement of the Concerto in A Minor. He is a Grade 9 student who has many years of experience and it was clearly demonstrated in the concert and appreciated by the audience with a standing ovation.
Next on the program was Mr. Jeff Biggar’s Grade 11 class band with two popular pieces, Havana and The Avengers. The class performed well, executing some Cuban rhythms and difficult articulations and key changes. The class was accompanied by Mr. de Beer and Mr. Michael Beauclerc on percussion, and Mrs. Lee on bass guitar.
Jazz @4 took the stage with Mrs. Lee to play a set of five charts. The first song was Green Onions by Booker T and the MG’s. It is an iconic 12-bar blues form that allows for both Micheal Moreau to solo on trumpet and Wesley Hoo to solo on the alto saxophone. The chart had a great groove thanks to Mr. Beauclerc on the drum set. Next, Josie Scott traded her trombone for an electric guitar and played Valerie, with Mika Romao Vandepol on vocals. The two musicians weaved in and out of the melody, beautifully creating a memorable performance.
One of Mrs. Lee’s favourite bands, Tower of Power made an appearance on the program as Jazz@4 performed the ballad You’re Still a Young Man. The opening trumpet solo was mastered by Micheal Moreau and the saxophone melody was expertly played by Wesley Hoo. The band takes on the vocal parts of the original version with great tuning and finesse. Autumn Leaves was performed by Allen Tang on alto saxophone and Robin Xu on bass guitar. Allen had auditioned with this music this fall and continued to work on his performance to create the beautiful dialogue between the saxophone and bass lines. Thank you to Mr. Biggar for adding your expertise on the drum set for their performance.
Finally, the band performed Blues in Hoss Flat, composed by Frank Foster and initially performed by Count Basie. It is a traditional swing feel with dynamic contrast. Both Brennon O’Grady and Bria Chalovich expertly traded fours in the trumpet solo section. Thanks to Mr. Beauclerc for his expert work on the drumset. His contributions to the sound were priceless.
Next on the program was Mrs. Lee’s Grade 11 class band with a three-song set of selections. Junhyeong Hong shared his beautiful tone with the audience with a rendition of the jazz standard Fly Me to the Moon on the trombone, accompanied by Jerry Chen on the piano. Ally Jiang debuted her first composition for Ben Semmler on the oboe, Kyra Fingas on the flute and Junhyeong Hong on the trombone. The piece is called Summer Sky and is a challenging composition with numerous key and time changes. The finale to the Grade 11 band set was the song Critical Mass by Todd Stalter. It is a very fast piece of music with contrasting dynamics and extremes of range for many instruments. This was a huge challenge for the group and the musicians’ hard work paid off with a stellar performance. Thanks to Mr. de Beer for his expertise in the percussion section.
While many of the concert’s ensembles were facilitated by music instructors, Barry Zhao and Robin Xu’s performance of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Lenny exemplifies the student interest in music that falls outside the purview of current curricular and co-curricular offerings. Harkening back to an era that predates both students, Lenny was a nod to rhythm ’n’ blues music that continues to find new ways of reaching younger demographics. If you’re reading this and are interested in future concerts, let this performance exemplify the possibilities here at TCS!
The Rock Band was eager to make its official debut with a curated selection of music made specifically by the members of this group: Today by the Smashing Pumpkins, Blur’s Song 2 and Nirvana’s In Bloom. Fronting the band on vocals was Kasey Golding alongside bandmates Alex Chin (drums), Adam Knowles (guitar), Aidan Reid (guitar) and Kristie Lam (guitar/bass guitar). Armed with open minds, a collaborative spirit and an affinity for ’90s rock, Trinity Rock Band worked in earnest to prepare a polished and invigorating debut performance, and the success experienced here will no doubt help to cultivate the culture and return of live music at TCS.
In addition to Mr. Beauclerc and Mr. de Beer, thanks also go to Mr. Dale Heffernan and the property department, Mr. Christian McFadden from the IT services department and Mr. Bill Walker.
- By Mrs. Nicola Lee and Mr. Jeff Biggar, music department
