MVHS Musicians Take On Challenge In Holiday Concert

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

The Moapa Valley High School bands and orchestra did their part to usher in the holiday season on Monday night, Dec. 11 at their holiday winter concert. The groups were all under the direction of MVHS music teacher Kim Delgadillo and, as always, delivered a top notch concert with great performances by all groups.

“I am the lucky one every day because I get to work with your children,” Delgadillo told parents in the audience to introduce the concert. “It is such a joy to have these students.”

The first group to perform was the Intermediate Band, made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores. One of their selections, a piece called “Deck the Halls With Old Composers,” combined strains of Christmas carols with familiar refrains from classical works.

Next on the stage was the Advanced Band. They began with long-time Christmas favorite, “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson. Delgadillo explained that this was a challenging piece for this group because it was the original piece not a simplified arrangement. The band incorporated all the sound effects the song is know for, including the sound of a horse neighing.

The band followed up this piece with a humorous rendition of “The Thirteen Days of Christmas,” which featured a tuba solo by Justin Henderson and a piccolo solo by Bria Scatterday. At one point in the piece, Delgadillo waved her arms to cut off the band, which kept playing until one girl stood and yelled, “She cut us off!”

There proceeded a humorous dialog between the band and the conductor, clearly for the audience’s benefit. Finally McKay Raban stood up with a horse mask over his head and looked around. Delgadillo yelled, “Quit horsing around, McKay!” With that pun, everyone continued playing, with duck sounds quacking in the background and other fun additions to the music. At the end everyone finished playing in a dramatic finish, except for Zach Anderson, who kept playing while Delgadillo turned around and said to the audience, “There’s one in every crowd…”

The Symphony Orchestra took the stage next. They began with “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” by J.S. Bach and then played the original composition of “Carol of the Bells” complete with hand bells on loan from Natalie Bunker. The piece also featured a piccolo solo by Bria Scatterday, a flute solo by Marina Mortensen, a trumpet solo by Yaden Witsken, and a trombone solo by Hanna Mortensen. The group closed with “Trepak” from “The Nutcracker” by Tchaikovsky.

The closing group for the night was the ever-popular MVHS Jazz Band, which started off their set of songs with a jazzy rendition of “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” featuring a trumpet solo by Yaden Witsken. Next, they slowed things down with “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” again featuring Witsken on the trumpet. The last piece on the program was a rendition of “Greensleeves,” which included a tenor sax solo by Averee Widdison. The band finally gave an encore performance of one of their signature pieces, “Feliz Navidad,” to finish out the night.

Delgadillo was pleased with how the evening went and was proud of the kids for their great performances. “I love my students,” she said. “They worked really hard, especially considering that we finished marching only a month ago. They played harder music than ever, which made them work to excel.”

Concert-goers agreed that the talent level was high. Logandale resident Caylena Farley said, “The concert was very festive. I am always impressed with the level of talent these kids have.”
Students agreed it was a great addition to the holiday concert season. Freshman cellist Haley Bush said, “This is my first high school concert and it was really fun practicing for it. I really enjoy high school orchestra.”

Her mother, Jesse Bush, agreed, saying, “They all did such a wonderful job. The Christmas concert is one of my favorite concerts of the year. I love it.”
Logandale resident Jocelyn Witskin summed up the evening saying, “It was an incredible concert with a great show of talent from all these kids. What a great way to bring in the Christmas season.”