By Drue Miller & Bella Beuckens
Trojan Tribune Staff
Photo by Amy Anderson
The West Central Music Department hosted their annual pops concert on April 27. The chorus and band came together to produce a show full of recent and classic songs that were bound to impress. Seven groups performed: concert choir, mixed choir, band, percussion ensemble, drum line, jazz band, and middle school jazz band.
The concert choir girls sang “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri and “When I think of You” by Sara Teasdale. The concert choir boys sang “Some Nights” by Fun, and “My Girl” by The Temptations. “Some Nights” featured three soloists including: seniors Nick Shumaker, Donovan Minor and junior Erik McClusky. The boys and girls came together to sing “Stand By Me” made famous by Ben E. King, which featured senior Drew Maras beat boxing. Maras said, “I really liked “Jar of Hearts” because I sang it even though it was the girls’ song. I distinctively remember mentally singing it to Brian Janish.”
The mixed choir sang “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor and “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys. Brianna Opitz, mixed choir freshman, said, “I loved singing songs that I already knew. It is easier to get into the music when you have a connection to the song prior to learning it for class!”
The ‘80s were brought back by the band, which played a mashup of all the hottest hits from the ‘80s. They also presented “Call Me Maybe,” which was arranged by senior Isaac McMahon. McMahon used a program to decipher the song and place notes for the different parts of the song. McMahon basically broke the song down note by note for each instrument until he had the whole song put together for the band to perform.
The percussion ensemble went out of their way to perform “Mozambique” by Chris Brooks and Big Yellow Mambo by David Steinquest. “I enjoyed participating in the percussion ensemble. They were really fun pieces to play and it was a good learning experience!” said Maddi Miller.
The drum line put together “Zubaz,” “Latin Time,” “That’s A Nice Boy You Got There,” “Uppie” and “Orange Stick Shot.” The drum line got into the spirit of the concert by dressing up in gangster outfits and short shorts. Paige Hanisch reported that Sam Swier can pull off short shorts really well, not to mention that the drum line “kicked butt!”
The jazz band played “Taking the Plunge,” “As If To Say Goodbye,” and “Dominoes.” Hanna Wahl said, “Playing these songs really added to the prism style of the concert. It was stressful to run around, and it was kind of chaotic, but I think the audience really enjoyed it!”
The pops concert concluded the season for the music department. Overall, the annual pops concert was a success for many.





