Grades 5 and 6 hold concert

Student musicians at Waseca Intermediate School capped off a year of practices and performances with their Spring Band Concert the evening of Thursday, May 18. The fifth- and sixth-grade bands performed, both under the direction of Mr. Craig Brenden. The concert centered around the works of composer Randall D. Standridge; each band played only one song by any other composer.

The fifth-graders performed first, playing Standridge’s “Starfire Fanfare,” “Mercury’s March” by Laura M. Kramer,” followed by Standridge’s “Tadpoles” and “Shadow Fire.” Before the band performed “Tadpoles,” Brenden made a comment that the selection of that piece was fitting, as he saw the fifth-graders as tadpoles now, but they will become “frogs” as they grow in their musicianship as sixth-graders next year.

The sixth-grade band’s selections were Standridge’s “Fanfare for the Sixteenth Empire,” followed by “A Distant Past” by Caitlyn Clark and “Warriors of the Sixteenth Empire,” “F-1,” and “The Black Cat,” which were all by Standridge. The first three songs were linked by a medieval theme, while “F-1” was inspired by pro racing. “Black Cat” was a character piece featuring occasional meowing and hissing from students.

The WIS gymnasium was filled to capacity with parents and supporters from around the community; all seemed fully engaged in the bands’ playing until the sixth graders’ final bow.