Tolland High School Seniors Play Their Final Concert

In an enjoyable but bittersweet concert Wednesday night, Tolland High School bid farewell to the senior members of the music department.

“It’s nice to see the growth of the seniors over the last four years, but it’s sad to see them go,” band Director Megan Kirwin said.

To mark his special contribution to the band, Kirwin gave senior Kevin Shaw, a bass clarinetist, the John Philip Sousa Band Award earlier in the evening to recognize his “superior musicianship and outstanding dedication.” 

When asked about his time at the Tolland High School music department, Shaw, who will be attending Hofstra University in the fall, said that he appreciated the closeness between the student musicians.

“I’m going to miss everybody,” he said. “I’m going to miss playing all the music and all of my friends.”

The concert’s organization demonstrated how valued each student is in the department. Between pieces, musicians from the chorus and band stood up, introduced themselves and told the audience about their plans for the future. The packed auditorium responded to each announcement with enthusiastic applause.

The audience also applauded the ambitious and well-played music. Choral director Linda Tracy led the chorus in five songs, including a combined song featuring the Tolland Middle School Eighth Grade Chorus. The high school chorus achieved a beautiful blend on the first song, “Ring, Ring the Banjo,” composed by Stephen Foster. The simple melody and folk-like feel of the song is typical of Foster, a 19th-century American composer.

The mood became more somber with the second piece, “The Lonely Sea,” which began wistfully and slowly, but warmed into a powerful refrain. The chorus picked up the tempo with “Angel Breathing Out” by Alisa Bair, which featured complex textures, staggered entrances and showcased the choir’s large vocal range.

Tracy identified the next piece, “Choose Something Like A Star,” as the choir’s “challenge piece.” While the piece begins with a serene melody and simple chords in the piano, the large range, complex harmony and dissonances soon darkened the piece. The choir rose to the challenge, as Tracy said, “ I don’t think I could have done it with any other group than this one.”

The choir ended its program with the combined piece, “The Storm is Passing Over.” The song, a spiritual with striking dynamic changes, provided an upbeat ending to the first half of the program.

The band kicked off the second half of the concert with the Tolland Middle School Eighth Grade Band, playing Antonin Dvorak’s classic “Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World.’” Many audience members probably found the music familiar, since the piece is filled with well-known Dvorak themes. Perhaps most famous though, is the piece’s first notes, the notorious half-step motive which John Williams borrowed to create his ominous “Jaws” score.

The ensemble stuck to the classics, playing Aaron Copland’s “Down a Country Lane” next in the program. The music’s rich, open harmonies recalled why Copland is often named as the quintessential American composer.

The band moved on to a relatively unknown piece and composer, “San Antonio Dances: Movement 2,” by Frank Ticheli. Kirwin read the composer’s program notes aloud, which describe an urban river walk in San Antonio, filled with restaurants, hotels and people on a hot summer night. The syncopated dance rhythms, muted trumpets and lilting interludes from small groups of instruments perfectly captured the busy, yet sensuous feel of a city summer.

The program was rounded off with “Midway March” composed by John Williams of “Star Wars” fame. Despite the traditional march bass line and some jazzy interjections, the piece still sounded like a classic Hollywood film score. Perhaps Williams’ success has hampered his ability to explore other genres without bringing his golden cinematic sound to his works.

The concert was certainly a resounding, if bittersweet success. Audience members left pleased. Tolland resident Tom Forschner came to watch his daughter perform and said that town’s dedication to the arts has certainly paid off with fantastic music.

“I’m glad that Tolland is so invested in the arts, because these kids are going somewhere,” Forschner said.