Chorus, band and orchestra students from Wampus Elementary School and H.C. Crittenden Middle School traveled to Byram Hills High School for the Districtwide Music Festivals, which were filled with inspiration and community, excitement and joy.
More than 400 fifth graders, eighth graders and high school students participated in the festivals, where students from all three schools sang and played together in powerful performances on the high school stage.
“The Byram Hills mission of student leadership was in full force,” Director of Fine Arts Marc Beja said. “The festivals were meaningful days of learning, musically, creatively and socially, where students mentored each other, learned from one another and produced beautiful music with scores of their peers from across the District.”
At the chorus festival on Jan. 14 and at the band and orchestra festivals on Jan. 15, students from each school performed for the larger group, worked in small mixed-age groups and rehearsed together.
After only a few hours, the students from the three schools joined for a final, combined performance that filled the theater with an amazing sound. The chorus sang “Shine Like Stars,” the orchestra performed “Power Rock” and “Dragonhunter,” and the band played “Legend of Mekong.”
“The culminating performances were fantastic,” Mr. Beja said. “It was great to watch the students come together so quickly as a large ensemble and make such beautiful and exciting music and to see them have fun doing it. We had fifth graders beside eighth graders beside high schoolers and they were all a part of that awesome large-group sound that was so impressive.”
The festivals gave younger students a glimpse of their path through the Byram Hills music program and high school students the chance to look back and realize how much they’ve grown over the years.
“Our younger students were really inspired to watch the older groups and hear how strong they sounded,” Mr. Beja said. “They saw the high level of talent and musicianship that awaits them at the high school.”
“The spark in our fifth graders’ eyes, sitting next to seniors and feeling like they were contributing to this great big, beautiful sound, was amazing,” Mr. Beja added. “Our high school students displayed such warmth and kindness as they supported and encouraged the fifth and eighth graders. There was a shared feeling that they are all musicians.”
The students had worked hard in their own schools to get ready for the festivals.
“The teachers are incredible,” Mr. Beja said. “The work that all of the music teachers did in the weeks and months leading up to the festivals was really evident in the high caliber of student performances, both of their own pieces and also in the high level of preparation of the combined pieces.”
At the festivals, students wore Byram Hills Music T-shirts and enjoyed a pizza lunch.
The Fine Arts Department is grateful to the PTSA for co-sponsoring the festivals and for their continued support of the arts!