[ot-caption title=” The members of the Upper School band stand on their decorated stage at the end of their spooky concert on October 25. (via Sofia Perez, junior)”][spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

The Pine Crest School Upper School Band preformed a “Hollywood Halloween” concert in Stacy Auditorium on Tuesday, October 25. The new concert was created to build excitement for fall’s first holiday. Band members prepared for the performance since the start of the school year to give their audience an unforgettable performance.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

Last year, the band did not have a Halloween concert, so adding this concert was a significant change to the band’s schedule. Dr. Kinne, the director of the band, decided to try something a little bit different to make the concert more fun for audiences and the band members. The concert band played popular songs from famous TV shows, movies, and musicals, such as “Music for a Darkened Theater,” “Doctor Who For Time And Space,” “The Dark Night,” and “Jump in the Line.” The concert also featured senior Sophia Cairo rapping to “My Shot” from Hamilton. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

“The Hollywood Halloween concert was a success. We had fun performing for the lower school and our parents,” Dr. Kinne said after the show.

This extra concert came with extra work. Students had to work additional hours in class and at home.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

“For this concert, we had assignments that used Smart Music and Schoology,” sophomore Lauren Fromkin said. “We had to record parts of songs which helped us prepare for this concert.”[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

Smart Music is a computer program that has allows students to send recordings of themselves and accuracy reports to their teachers This a useful tool in preparing the band for an upcoming performance when they don’t have enough class time. Because it worked so well, the students are using Smart Music for their next concert now, too.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

“I liked the Halloween concert because we got to play music from popular Halloween movies,” sophomore Meghan Sharma said. “It was cool to be able to play songs that we have heard in movies and are familiar with. I loved ‘My Shot’ from Hamilton because Sophia Cairo rapped to it, so it was something we don’t usually get to do it concert band.”[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

The success of the night means that this concert may become a tradition for the band. Congratulations to Dr. Kinne and all of the participants in this year’s Halloween band concert.  The next band concert is coming up on Tuesday, November 29 in Stacy Auditorium. It will include the Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School bands.