BRYANT, Ark. — Before a standing-room-only crowd at the Bryant Middle School gym, the musicians and directors of the Bryant School District band programs took turns entertaining at the annual All-Campus Spring Concert on Tuesday, April 7.
The bands include over 650 students from the beginning bands at Bryant and Bethel Middle Schools to the high school's Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band.
The evening's events also included a silent auction held by the Bryant Band Booster Club to raise funds for the program.[more]
The Jazz Band kicked off the festivities, performing Jumpin' East of Java, a Brian Setzer composition arranged by Roger Holmes. Maria Pinkerton provided the vocals. Tanner Ward, Tyler Fields, Tyler Henningsen and Tanner Marshall accompanied her on alto saxophone with Bailey Goree and Jeanetta Bean on tenor and Michael McCabe on baritone. Trumpets were played by Michael Hoover, Matt Johnson, Ben Gonzalez, Shelby Bryant and Ashley Green. Thomas Fletcher played trombone and the rhythm section included Brandon Eidson on guitar, Michael Wollard on base, Alex Ford and Ariel Lawson playing piano, and Joseph Gearhart and Craig Wynn drums.
The Bryant Middle School beginning band, directed by Linda Gerber, performed Robert W. Smith's Three Faces of Kilimanjaro. The Bethel Middle School beginning band, conducted by Sotonya Gordey, followed with Paul Jennings' A Prehistoric Suite: 1. Stegosauras (The Gladiator); 2. Brontosaurus (Gentle Giant); 3. Pterodactyls (Graceful Giants of the Sky); and The Battle (Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops).
The Bryant Middle School seventh grade band, directed by Jennifer Townsend, performed A Rockin' Halloween, arranged by Michael Story. The Bethel Concert Band, directed by Mrs. Gordey, performed Themes from Jurassic Park, arranged by Michael Sweeney.
Mrs. Gerber directed the Bryant eighth grade band through Daniel Bukvish's Dinosaurs and Greg Gordey directed the Bethel Symphonic Band's rendition of Eternal Peaks by Robert W. Smith.
The Bryant High School Percussion Ensemble, under the director of Jon Doty, provided an interlude. The ensemble of Eidson, Wynn, Tyler Broadhurst, Kayla Henderson, Justin Evatt, Stephen Blissett, Jacob Hefner, Dennis Humphries and Thomas Goss performed Chris Brooks' Millennium.
The work of the full bands resumed with the BHS freshman band, under the direction of Stewart Wright, performing Eiger, a James Swearingen composition. Wright then led the BHS Symphonic Band through Steven Reineke's Into The Raging River.
The evening concluded with the BHS Wind Ensemble's performance of third movement of Reineke's Symphony No. 1 "New Day Rising" with the director of bands for the Bryant District, J.Chad Green, conducting. The piece depicts the earthquake, aftershocks and subsequent events that hit San Francisco in 1906.
The concert was emceed by Cathie Dorsch, Associate Misnister at Agape Church in Little Rock.
Representatives of the Band Booster Club extended thanks to the sponsors of the bands along with those that donated items for the silent auction.
The BHS Jazz Band will perform again on Saturday, May 2, at 7 p.m. at the Lake DeGray State Park amphitheatre. On May 12, the Bethel Middle School Spring Concert will be held beginning at 7 p.m., at the school. The BHS Spring Concert is set for May 14 at 7 p.m., at Love Auditorium with the Bryant Middle School Spring Concert following on May 19, at 7 p.m. in the BMS cafeteria.
