Members of the Carlmont Jazz Ensemble — playing alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones — perform “Yes or No.” The fast swing tune was written by Wayne Shorter. The ensemble chose the chart as the opening piece because its upbeat tempo immediately captured the audience’s attention.
The Carlmont Instrumental Music program’s performance on Nov. 6 aimed to inspire middle schoolers in hopes that they will continue playing instruments once they begin high school.
The music program regularly promotes to middle schoolers through an annual performance to keep it running. This year, the String Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, and Jazz Band performed for nearby feeder schools.
Middle schools like Ralston and Tierra Linda have begun bringing groups of their music students to watch high school ensembles play in collaboration with the program following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Peter Thielen, one of Ralston’s music teachers.
Kerem Olgun, a senior who plays the double bass in the Symphony Orchestra, is one of the students who has performed for middle schoolers both on and off campus at Carlmont.
“It’s fun to get all the music students together. You get to involve all grade levels,” Olgun said. “The people who fuel the program once people graduate are the middle schoolers.”
Olgun especially enjoys performing, as he feels he has found a sense of community in the music program. He hopes that the students who join will also experience the same sense of community that he has.
Roughly 30 minutes before the middle schoolers arrived, Carlmont Instrumental Music students took the stage at Carlmont’s Performing Arts Center (PAC) and began rehearsing quickly.
“Before the performance, I was super nervous, and I was scared to mess up,” said Laya Madhu, a freshman playing in the String Orchestra.
As the middle schoolers settled into the rows of seats in the PAC, all string instruments on stage wrapped up their short rehearsal. The show opened with the String Bonanza, a performance featuring all the string musicians in the program.
“We played different genres besides classical, like pop, to get students who aren’t big on classical into our program,” said Emma Kelly, a sophomore in Symphony Orchestra.
In the audience, middle schoolers watched the performers with awe and curiosity as they performed.
“Being music students themselves, the performance was very appealing to them,” Thielen said. “We talked a bit afterwards, and a lot of the kids had raised their hands when asked if the performance inspired them to achieve that level the high schoolers have achieved.”
This performance was the first for many of the first-year Carlmont Instrumental Music students. Looking back on the performance, the performers feel proud of having prepared a variety of pieces for the middle schoolers to hear.
“It was our first time rehearsing with all of the other ensembles. Prior to that, we only rehearsed with our own class,” Madhu said. “But I think the middle schoolers enjoyed the performance since everyone was pretty attentive during the performance.”
After the String Bonanza, the String Orchestra joined the middle schoolers in the audience for the Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band’s individual performances.
Miriam Kurtic, a sophomore playing trombone in Jazz Band, as well as a select few students, improvised solos during their set.
“Every time we do an improvised solo, we don’t write it out,” Kurtic said. “We make up these solos on the spot by reading chord changes.”
Solos of this difficulty tend to be introduced once a student enters a higher placement in bands. Kurtic adds that while students are in middle school, there’s more guidance from teachers, contrasting the individual learning in settings like Carlmont’s Jazz Band.
In middle school, Kelly and other students, who are currently in Carlmont ensembles, felt incredibly inspired by the music program’s performances.
“I was in awe because they were really good, and I was thinking to myself how I was never going to get in,” Kelly said.
After the performance, Carlmont Instrumental Music students interacted with Ralston middle schoolers, exchanging remarks about the different pieces performed. This performance successfully provided Ralston and Tierra Linda with an experience of how high school ensembles function, along with a glimpse into the musicianship they can develop through the program.
“We used to do a large combined concert where middle schools would come and perform,” Thielen said. “But that didn’t really showcase Carlmont’s program the way that the current structure does.”
Senior Vincent Wong, a tuba player in Symphonic Band, performs the piano part of “Cuckoo Interlude,” an instrumental piece from Laufey’s newest album, “A Matter of Time.” The whimsical nature of the piece resonated with the audience through its familiarity. To better engage listeners, performing groups have often chosen to perform music from popular soundtracks, such as “Star Trek” and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” in recent years.