Music is in the air! The spring music festival took place on Friday, April 8 where the Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School bands performed many songs. 

The performance is helped by Lower and Middle school band teacher Bruce Huber. Huber has been teaching at The Benjamin School since 1989. “This years’ band is very special with lots of talent and enthusiasm,” he said. “They are a joy to teach, and they sound fantastic.”

Students have been preparing for this event since the winter music festival in December. That event can be found on The Benjamin School website. One student has been looking forward to the event in particular. “I am also looking forward to the performance because we get to learn from the high school students while they perform,” says eighth grade percussionist Leanna Depaulis. Upper school band teacher Nicholas Lockey watched the middle school students perform. “This concert is our biggest and most complex music event since the start of the pandemic, featuring students from all three divisions (Lower, Middle, and Upper)” says Mr.Lockey. There were not any mixed performances between the levels of grades.

There were many songs performed that night and the students and teachers liked many of them more than others. Eighth grader Ishe Makoni says “My favorite song that we will be performing is Oye Como Va. It has a catchy tune that makes you want to dance”. Mr.Lockey has a different opinion about his favorite song. “When you spend several months selecting and preparing all of the music together, they all become favorites” says Mr.Lockey. Students seem to have one piece that stands out more than others. “My favorite piece that we will be performing is Symphony No. 7. This is a very complicated piece and one that we have been perfecting for a very long time now. I cannot wait to perform it” says Leanna Depaulis.

Covid has caused the students in the band to switch to other instruments due to having to use your mouth to play the instruments, which brings a level of concern for spreading germs. They have started to take up instruments like guitar, bass, percussion, and piano/keyboard. “I play the saxophone, but because of Corona, I play the keyboard. I have been enjoying learning this new instrument and practicing to get even better” says Ishe Makoni. Other students have taken up similar instruments including Leanna Depaulis, “Normally, I play the flute. But since Covid started, I’ve been playing the piano since I have past experiences with it”.

The concert was a great time for the students, and hopefully there will be more performances like this to wrap up the school year.  According to Mr.Huber, “The 6th Grade Bands will perform in the Barker Center on April 14 at 6:30 pm.” If any of you would like to show up to the performance the info can be found on the The Benjamin School Website. Congratulations to all the students and teachers that worked on the Spring Music Festival performance. We also look forward to the upcoming sixth grade band performance.