One Nation, Under God

Malta School Pops Bands perform and award recipients named

The Malta High School Choir and Band put on a good show at the pops concert, Thursday, May 13.

The night started with the full choir doing three songs. The first was a song called Heros and Dreamers, by Pinkzebra. It's an upbeat song about chasing your dreams, reaching for your goals, and living your best life. The song featured solos by Skylie Lefdahl, Leslie Young, Emma Harms, and Aubri Werk.

They followed that with the old classic song Blue Moon, by Rogers and Hart. The song has been recorded by many performers over the years, but is probably best known for being performed by The Marcels. It was a number one hit for them in 1961 and was a hit again on Thursday night in the Malta Auditorium.

The last song the full choir did was called Be A Light, by Thomas Rhett. Rhett said he wrote the song in 2019, but chose to release it because he thought its message would be well received in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. It is a song about being a light in a dark place, about being an encouragement to people. Rhett announced that proceeds from the song would be donated to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund.

After the full choir was done, the MHS Euterpes took over the stage and sang the song Down In The River To Pray, arrangement by J David Moore. This song has also been done many times, but is best known by Alison Krauss in her version for the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Euterpes did a wonderful job with the song, doing it acapella, which is not an easy thing to do. When the song started, you just wanted to close your eyes and let the many layers and harmonies move you.

Next to take the stage was the MHS Swing Choir. They performed one song entitled I See The Light, by David Childs. This is a song from the 2010 animated movie Tangled. It is both the theme song and the love song of the movie. The swing choir did a great job of invoking both the folkish and pop sides of the song.

After the swing choir was done, choir director Nancy Murdock thanked her accompanist Mardy Demarais for helping her and being there for the choir all year. She also thanked Kelly McCann, who added his drum talents to the show that night. Murdock then thanked all of her seniors for their dedication and hard work. She then had four awards to give out. The first two were for the Most Improved Choral Award. These awards were given to Draven Lageson and Anna Harms. Murdock said of Lageson, "He has come a long way from where he started. Now he is the one pushing others to get better."

And of Harms, she said, "Anna is the person I can count on to jump in wherever we need her. We need help in the sopranos, she's there, more help in the altos, she moves over there."

The other two awards were the National School Choral Awards. These two awards went to Skylie Lefdahl and Emma Harms.

Murdock said of these two young ladies, "They are both leaders in the choir. Two of the rocks that I can depend on."

After the awards, Director Murdock invited everyone to head outside for the band portion of the night.

MHS Band Director Erik Engebretson welcomed the crowd to the band portion of the night. The crowd was sitting in lawn chairs, parked cars, and on truck tailgates in the parking lot. It was a perfect night for it.

The concert band started with three songs. The first was High Water Mark: The Third Day, by Michael Sweeney. This song was written to invoke images of the third and final day of the Battle of Gettysburg that marked the change of the tide in America's Civil War. The band did a wonderful job of bringing the feelings of war to the crowd, (in a good way), without the barrage of cannonballs and gunshots flying around. But you could sense the parade-like advance of troops in Pickett's famous charge.

The next song for the band was called Machine Age, by Chris M. Bernotas. This was a fun piece to listen to. Very rhythmic and almost trance-inducing at some points.

The third song the concert band played is called How Far We've Come, by Matchbox 20 and arranged by Murtha. Matchbox 20, enough said.

After the full concert band was done, band director Engebretson introduced all of the seniors in the band and gave a little peek into what each senior would be doing the next year.

Engebretson then announced the winner of the John Phillip Sousa Award. Senior Tamela Abrahamson was the 2021 recipient.

The next piece is called Noel Nouvelet, arranged by Jim Engebretson. It was played by the woodwind ensemble.

Followed by a piece called Malaguena, by Ernesto Lecuona, and arranged by Murtha, played by the Trumpet ensemble.

The last group to play in the twilight of the night was the Jazz ensemble. They played a song called Playing With Fire, by Larry Neeck.

They ended the night with the Jazz ensemble's version of Amazing Grace.

 

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