On Tuesday, December 19th and Wednesday, December 20th, 2023, the Bronx Science Music Department hosted their annual Winter Concert featuring Chorus, Jazz Band, Orchestra, and Concert Band. The Winter Concert is a show of the talents amongst the Music Department and is the result of months of hard work.
The Music Department is always fascinating, because the musicians hold genuine passion for their work. Unlike the traditional rigorous academic courses offered at Bronx Science, students try out for the higher-level music courses and often stay in the classes for multiple years. “I’m very excited to play the concert, especially since it’s my first year in the band, even though I’m a senior. I’ve played in Concert Band in middle school, but I’ve been holding off band for courses that looked good academically. I decided that I should get at least one year of playing before graduating, and I do not regret it,” said Kenneth Lee ’24.
The four ensembles worked exuberantly hard to master their technique and, concert songs.
Behind-the-Scenes
For the first time, I stayed for both the afternoon and evening performances. At 4 P.M., the ensembles begin filing into the music room for a pizza dinner to fuel them up for the rest of the long night. A combination of anticipation and anxiety-inducing nerves fills the air.
It’s always a humorous sight to see a room jam-packed full of high schoolers clad in concert black eating pizza together. There’s a strict rule mandating that all pizza stays on the premises (inside the band room) to ward off any pizza stealers.
I sat down among them and ate my slice in peace, bracing myself for the long night ahead.
Meanwhile, a few doors down the hallway, the faint scent of cinnamon wafts through the air. The Baking Club is making gingerbread men cookies for their final meeting before the holidays. The Christmas spirit in the air – I can practically smell it.
“The Winter Concert always lands on a Baking Club day and we always do gingerbread cookies seeing as that it is our holiday meet! Lots of folks performing in the concert drop by to help bake (and help eat!),” said Baking Club President and Concertmaster Emily Hsieh ’24 who decorated a gingerbread cookie resembling Mr. Mantilla, the Conductor for Concert Band and Jazz Band. In fact, the majority of the Baking Club Board is filled with band and choir kids. Hsieh, Kina Nagasaki ’26, and Elisa Chang ’24, who are in the Concert Band and Choir respectively.
Chorus
The choir was the first to grace the stage. They walked down the side rows and stood on high-rises. Their singing was lovely; I don’t know the intricacies behind the lighting crew, but the spotlight barely grazed the tops of their heads, leaving the majority of the choir in a dim shadow. Their stage presence should be as lit as their song composition.
‘City of Stars’ by Justin Hurwitz was a beautiful, solemn song. The choir perfectly captured the sentiments of the award winning movie, La La Land. I could practically see Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling dancing in a desolate parking lot overlooking a serene sunset. It was a surprising choice for the first song, but the slow song primed the audience for the rest of the concert. I watched La La Land after the Winter Concert, and in retrospect, I wish I had appreciated it more. Their program was filled with diverse songs, ranging from the popular ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ by Bart Howard to ‘Winter With You’ by Pinkzebra.
I went through a rollercoaster of intense emotions as the concert went on. ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ and ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ evoked warm nostalgia, while ‘Winter With You’ brought up memories of cold, lovesick winters. That is the power of song: it draws up emotions and experiences — many of which you have never even experienced. With each song, the choir revealed layers of emotion, layers of long concert practices that finally revealed itself in the marvelous concluding concert.
“One song in our repertoire for this year is ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ and right after we sang the song in rehearsals, Mr. DeSilva would ask us if we could feel the love. It was a really funny way to ask us how we thought we performed,” said Vanessa Encarnacion ’24. The song was warm and familiar on the cold December night. However, I wish there were more vocal variety between the different sections.
The choir finished with ‘Water Under The Bridge’ by Adele Adkins. The platinum-certified soft rock song was exquisite. At its climax, the volume of the chorus increased dramatically. The song felt empowering, with their powerful voices echoing off the auditorium walls.
“If you’re gonna let me down, let me down gently / Don’t pretend that you don’t want me / Our love ain’t water under the bridge.”
The chorus of the song was catchy. You could feel the enormous weight of the lyrics and the emotion of complicated, partially unrequited love reverberating in your bones.
I was floored.
They truly gave their all for the grand finale. The round of applause that followed was well deserved. Standing up and cheering was simply a second instinct. While the instrumental ensembles receive much fanfare and excitement, I think the choir deserves more attention. The fact that they were able to convey such intense, extraordinary emotions with just their voices was incredible. In my (unscientific) experience, I find the instrumental ensembles more compelling when heard from the front row as opposed to the back of the auditorium, but the choir was just as impactful from the back rows.
Every single song made me want to sing along. Weeks later, I am still in awe of the vast range of the program and the wonderful execution of each piece. As the old cliché goes, you just had to be there.
Jazz Band
Immediately after the Choir’s performance, the auditorium lights dimmed, as the overhead stage lights illuminated the seats and stands.
‘The Chicken’ by Alfred Ellis painted a lovely first scene before moving onto ‘Killer Joe’ by Benny Golson.
One of my favorite aspects of Jazz Band’s performance was the novelty and unpredictability of the percussion instruments. Oscillating between numerous different instruments, they kept me engaged and made for a lively addition.
I noticed the front row of saxophone players tapping their feet in unison, though each with a different tapping style — either the soles or balls of their feet. Their performance was a show of individuality yet cohesion in the most wondrous way.
Jazz Band’s abundance of solos kept my ear entertained and spotlighted excellent musicians. ‘Centerpiece’ by Harry Edison was the perfect example of this, featuring three solos: a trumpet solo sandwiched between two saxophone solos.
I loved the variety and ragtag cohesion that so beautifully embodies jazz. In ‘Moondance’ by Van Morrison, the vibraphone added a whimsical touch in the background.
The real star of the show was saxophone player Jayden Lee ’24. Lee moved to Jazz Band this year after playing on the Concert Band for the past two years. Regardless, you would’ve never known; he had several solos sprinkled throughout the program, which were always a delight.
His brilliant solos reminded me of a quote by Sebastian from La La Land, “You can’t hear it, you know, you have to see it … look at the saxophone player right now. He just hijacked the song. He’s on his own trip.” Indeed, he was. Watching and hearing him play during his solos was an immersive experience.
His final solo ended Jazz Band’s performance on a fiercely impressive note. Sitting in the front row, I could see the vivid emotions pandering on his face. It was incredible.
The small size of the band left no room to hide and allowed each player to shine, especially with the plethora of solos.
Jazz Band’s superb performance made brilliant use of instruments, silence, and other elements to heighten the experience.
Orchestra
I get the most poetic when listening to the Orchestra. My journal is filled with scribbles and scrawl comparing the trumpets to knights in shining armor in a princess movie.
Sandwiched in the middle of the program was ‘Christmas at the Movies’ arranged by Bob Krogstad, or in layman’s terms, the most beautiful piece to ever grace my ears. I am still raving about it weeks later.
It was especially appropriate, with Christmas in a matter of days and Winter Break around the corner at the time of the Winter Concert. The joy of the holiday season fell onto the auditorium like flurries of snow.
As a senior in the trenches of college applications, it was the most joy I’ve felt in months. The high-pitched flutes and violins blended beautifully together, simultaneously contrasting with another section of plucking violins. It was so mesmerizing watching the violinists’ fingers dance across the strings; their bows had synchronized movements, yet each with their own technique.
At one point, the cello and another unidentifiable instrument made a train sound. The playful touches of the triangle gave me a feeling akin to the first sight of snow.
It brought fond memories of a particular red-brick house in the middle of Illinois, jam-packed with children and extended family on the eve of their trip to Paris. I could almost see Kevin McCallister hanging stockings on the fireplace.
“I had no idea what was happening and I loved it” is scribbled in the margin of my program. Typically when a journalist has no clue what’s going on, it is a bad omen. That is, unless it is the Orchestra playing.
The cellos pulsated to mimic the sound of a steel-cut train accelerating down a track — Polar Express anyone? Watching the militia of violins string together such a wonderful melody was surreal. I cannot believe that I was watching the source of this brilliant performance unfold just meters away.
All in all, listening to the Orchestra was a rollercoaster – one that I would pay to experience over and over again.
Miles Kross ’23 made a special appearance during Orchestra’s performance. After graduating last year, Kross came back to rehearse with Orchestra in the weeks leading up to the Winter Concert. Tucked into the right hand back corner of the stage, Kross plays next to the curtain wings.
Kross is the only ensemble member who plays the contrabass – albeit as an alumnus.
Concert Band
Kicking it off with the Christmas classic ‘Nutcracker Suite’ by P.I. Tchaikovsky, the familiar tune of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy welcomed the audience. In the penultimate song of the Nutcracker, Waltz of the Flowers, the volume dramatically increased. However, I fear that they sacrificed quality for volume; the flutes sounded hoarse, unlike the gentle flutter I expected.
‘The Wishing Well’ by Rossano Galante was beautiful. I could feel the calm courage washing over me. It felt like a scene from Moana, though a little more stoic, as if we were standing vicariously on a sailboat silently sailing away to safety, though some of the solos were overshadowed by accompanying background instruments.
As soon as I heard the first few measures of ‘Tripwire’ by JaRod Hall, I knew they meant business.
It had spunk. It had flair. It was everything we could ask for and more.
The percussion section was the heart of the piece. The moments of lull quickly subsided into powerful percussion sections. ‘Tripwire’ took me from a mountain to a valley and back around.
Next was ‘Oblivion’ by Astor Piazzolla, which featured a prominent solo by Hsieh. While solos that span the length of the piece are usually found in Orchestra, Concert Band adopted this style for ‘Oblivion.’ As for the song, it sounded exactly like its namesake: oblivion, utter desolation.
Concert Band closed off the show with an arrangement of songs from the hit Disney movie Frozen arranged by Stephen Bulla. Iconic childhood songs like ‘Let It Go’ and ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman?’ brought a smile to my face. “I also have my first solo (sort of) in Frozen, and I’m super excited to play ‘Let It Go’ with my solo partner Sam Chin!” said Nagasaki.
“I’m also so glad to be playing Frozen because the movie and its songs were such an integral part of my growing up and it feels so full circle to be able to play it for my senior year of high school,” said Hsieh, “My 10-year-old dog is named “Olaf”! [It’s] such an honor to be playing the ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman?’ solo; I hope I make my little Chihuahua proud!”
My favorite touch was Hsieh’s flawless solo during ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman?’ It was lovely and executed perfectly. The entire song was very accurate to the original. The percussion even incorporated clicks to mimic the ticking clocks from the movie scenes. There was depth, control, and a clean transition to ‘For the First Time in Forever.’
‘For the First Time in Forever’ had to be my favorite from the entire Concert Band program. The sprinkle of percussion and xylophone was perfect. It required a lot of self-control to prevent myself from singing out loud in the front row.
“Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful” as I wrote in my journal, perfectly encapsulates my sentiments. It was regal, majestic, and filled my Disney princess dreams.
“I couldn’t imagine spending my 3rd period of the day doing anything else but sing,” said Vanessa Encarnacion ’25.