VVHS Bands Play Holiday Concert

By TYRA LUDVIGSON

The Progress

The Virgin Valley High School band program celebrated the Christmas season with its annual Winter Concert on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 6 pm.

The program included performances from the VVHS Advanced Band, which played beautiful traditional holiday music; and the VVHS Jazz Band, which dazzled the audience with its syncopated tunes.

The Advanced Band kicked off the concert with a classic festive tune “The Christmas Song.” The arrangement had influences of Latin music that was felt through the drumset. Classic jingle bells and the xylophone also chimed in to further the excitement and festive cheer. The great tone of the Advanced Band was especially prominent in this song.

The next tune was a fun medley titled “Christmas Time with Charlie Brown.” This anthem included the most memorable Charlie Brown songs such as “Linus and Lucy,” the long-established song “Christmas Time is Here” and other holiday classics. The piece’s high energy opening later slowed down for a sweet melody line. Trumpeter Ben Nelson was featured in this tune, backed by a strong bass section – a feature of the band that Richardson has been focusing on. The flutes helped the melody complete the tune with beautiful trills.

The third song of the performance was a time-honored classic “Carol of the Bells” which started with a very light flute and clarinet line and quickly added each section starting with the alto saxophones and moving down to the bass drum. The piece came to an exciting conclusion with a rolling timpani.

The three pieces finished off this ensemble’s list on the program. But the group added a surprise fourth piece as an encore. Band Director, Mr. Richardson, invited the audience to “see if you can recognize this tune.”

The audience immediately recognized the song. The final festive piece for the group was “Sleigh Bells” and boy did it slay. Trumpets played with mutes giving the sound an edge and was accompanied by some interesting percussion instruments such as a woodblock and of course jingle bells!

Following the outstanding performance from the Advanced Band, the highly anticipated Jazz Band took the stage. This group kicked off its performance with a rendition of “Santa Baby”. This song featured Tyra Ludvigson on the tenor saxophone-which carried the melody for almost the entirety of the tune. Trumpet player Ben Nelson also soloed on the song with his amazing muted trumpet.

The jazz band then played a tune titled “Big Band Holiday” that compiled many holiday favorites such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Frosty the Snowman.” The medley featured Landon Rothleutner on the trumpet and Caiden Jones on the alto saxophone. The arrangement was gorgeous and left the audience enthralled and wanting more.

The ensemble was happy to oblige and played two more tunes: “Sway” and “The Jazz Police”.
“Sway” by Michael Buble featured two soloists: Gael Godinez on the trumpet and Caiden Jones on the alto saxophone.

“The Jazz Police” was a show-stopper and featured two saxophone soloists Caiden Jones and Tyra Ludvigson. The audience loved the jazz band’s performance and charisma!

The VVHS band program would like to thank the administration at the high school for all of their support, the janitors for helping with set up and take down, the community for supporting the ensemble, and all the parents for allowing their children to participate in a beautiful program.