Music

HHS Mega Concert

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An impressive array of students performed in the Hanover High School auditorium for the annual Mega Concert.  This combines band, orchestra and chorus in a single venue.

The introduction with the classic Charles Trenet “Beyond the Sea” was nicely done by the Footnotes.  The string orchestra did a good job with Amazing Grace.  The Lord of the Rings was heavy on the percussion, but also performed well.  The senior soloists sang well for “On and On”, followed by a fun “What I Like About You”.  For “Blue Moon”, singer Lillian was unfortunately drowned out by the band which was a shame as she has a great voice.  The chorus songs were fine – Hercules was a big long.  The Hilights version of the Beyoncé Medley was an unfortunate choice.

The final band pieces were nicely paced and rousing, and closed the concert off nicely.

HHS Mega Concert May 2014 Program

Martha Redbone Roots Project

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Martha RedboneWe were unsure what to expect with this concert but it turned out to be a fun evening.  This was a mix of bluegrass and country music, but it was a bit unusual that the lyrics were from the poems of William Blake.

Between songs, Martha would touch her hillbilly roots, at one point mentioning that she had both eaten and worn squirrels.  But she also has roots in Brooklyn and can easily adopt that accent.

Martha Redbone website

Program notes

Sally Pinkas

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Another quiet and very pleasant concert at Spaulding,  with a small but appreciative crowd.  The introductory Beethoven sonata was great, and then Sally introduced the second piece by her teacher at Brandeis, Harold Shapero.  She is doing a CD of his works, and this was quite interesting.

The second piece after intermission “Faschingsschwank aus Wien” by Schumann was very beautiful, especially the final Finale movement.

Program Notes

Phill Niblock: The Movement of People Working

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phill-niblock-concertThis was a bit of a risk from the sound of it, but I tried it anyway.  There were 2 large screens showing film of people doing various kinds of manual labour in Vietnam.  Below the screen, Phill was on the left behind some Mac laptops and equipment, and 5 guitarists sat in front and played what sounded like the same loud note.  There were very subtle shifts in sound, but it would be stretch to call it music.

The guitarists stopped playing, but there was very little difference after they stopped, as electronic sounds continued, accompanied by a saxophonist who walked around Rollins Chapel bellowing the same note.  I had forgotten how loud a saxophone could be

I left early, and I wasn’t the only one who did.

Program notes