Students from 100 Mile House Elementary School and Forest Grove Elementary School came together on June 15 to deliver a 50-instrument music concert.
The sounds of flutes, clarinets, trombones, xylophones and drums filled the gymnasium from 15 different musical pieces.
The concert began with Forest Grove students performing Variants on a Celtic Folk Tune by Douglas E. Wagner, followed by Midnight Mission by Brian Balmages. The students gave a good effort with an additional mix of xylophones.
A Grade 6 duet performance was provided by Aly Price and Nelly Baechmann with Springtime Waltz by Franz Behr. The two girls had a smooth and confident harmony.
Two other Grade 6 solos were performed by Amy Jordaan with Climb the Stairs and Noah Geerts with Little Fish. Both played very well.
The host school's Grade 6 section of the band came together for three pieces, including Medieval Fantasy by Larry Dureski, Echo Lake by Robert Buckley and Pegasus by William Owens. These songs involved heavy percussion work and brought a loud and rhythmic heartbeat to the performance.
There were additional solos by Serina K., Maria W., and Maryanna E. with The Victors by Louis Elbel.
One of the most outstanding solos of the night was given by Baechmann with Melody. Baechmann showed she had been practising her charts and delivered a strong and powerful solo.
The Grade 7 students took over and brought down the house with bombastic versions of Dragon Slayer by Rob Grice and Nature's Fury by Jonathan McBride.
As the concert came to the final song, the performers were much more confident with their instruments and the harmony became a solid wave of wonderful music.
The final song was a perfect choice as both students and audience members clapped their hands and stomped their feet to We Will Rock You by Queen. The performers quickly transitioned from instrument to clapping to stomping and back to playing in fluid succession.
Conductor Tamara Hatch said the experience was both a humble and reminiscent experience.
“I grew up here and went to school in 100 Mile. After I went to the Lower Mainland to complete my university degree, I came back here to teach music, so it's kind of a surreal experience.”