On December 16th, Danbury High School’s music department held their annual winter concert which showcases all of the hardwork the students and teachers put in throughout the year. Some of the performances include Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Pop Choir and more.
Leading up to the concert, classes will spend their class time practicing, learning songs, and even in flex to rehearse further. At the concert, they get together and the different ensembles take turns performing around an hour worth of music for family and friends.
Teachers involved need to be adaptable, as many different obstacles may present themselves. From year to year, the exact schedule leading up to the concert changes; this depends on things such as the students who are playing, how fast they learn music, missed school days, and most recently a change in the concert date. These affect the ensemble in that if a class is missed due to school cancellation, the entire class loses out on a day of rehearsal. That one missed day can sometimes make or break a performance. These factors both help and set back teachers but regardless, teachers must learn to persevere through it all. Luckily, with years of experience most of the teachers have learned to work together to make the most out of any situation.
The original date for the concert was December 9th but after city wide water contamination, Danbury High School was unable to have school on this day. Consequently, the concert had to be rescheduled for Monday the 16th. Orchestra director, Mary Peters, says she found it “nice to have an extra week of practice time” Although it was unexpected, teachers were still able to benefit from the extra practice time and improve in the process. Another concern that came up was being able to communicate with all students and parents that the date had changed but “thanks to ParentSquare and other means of communication, contacting everyone is easy,” according to Dr. Peters.
Students know once they are admitted into the class how important attending these concerts is. It counts for a majority of their grade so if students aren’t in attendance and ready to perform, they have a slim chance of passing the class. So while some students perform only because it is mandatory, many others go because they simply just enjoy showing off everything they’ve learned.
There is much more that goes into every single performance than what meets the eye, and despite any hardships these musicians endured in the process, the concert as a whole was a success. It ultimately served as a great opportunity to show the DHS music department some appreciation for all of the hard work they put into their performances.
