GHS Concert Band returns after 25 years

On Wednesday, May 31st, the GHS Concert Band will perform at Stage Fort Park, at 6 pm. This performance marks the first time in 25 years that the GHS Concert Band will be playing music for the public.

“Before this year I had not played in a school-based concert band since middle school,” senior saxophone player AJ Porcello said. “In my freshman year, we had a lab band, which might have turned into a concert band, but that got shut down and we had been limited to jazz band since. We’ve struggled to have more than one band ensemble because we only have one teacher, and it’s incredibly hard to teach three ensembles at once, but our director has agreed to the challenge.”

Because the band is set to perform outside, there will be a rain date for June 2nd, in the event that the weather does not permit them to perform.

“We’re going to be playing some pretty good music, and it will hopefully be a lovely day at Stage Fort Park,” Porcello said. “I think it will be interesting for the community to watch the rise of the concert band for the first time in a long time, and I think it will be good for all of us to get outside and hear what the full GHS band is capable of doing.”

There is no cost associated with attending the concert, but there is a suggested donation of $10 to support the music program at GHS.

“It’s important to me because the music program at a high school should facilitate learning for each and every student that it possibly can,” band director Cole Lundquist said. “In this instance, by putting a concert band together, it enables us to put more kids on stage and involve more people, and grow this program to the size that community deserves.”

The setlist includes “Celtic Air and Dance,” “I’m Still Standing,” “Skyfall,” “Freedom,” “The Greatest Showman,” “The Raider’s March,” and “Danger Zone.”