A fall band concert was held at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, October 26 at The Manitou Springs Elementary School. The bands members and the band’s director Terry Leve were all dressed in black suits and dresses. The MSHS String Ensemble, Jazz Band and Symphonic Band joined the concert.

This is Leve’s third year of directing, and he tried hard music pieces pushing the band to gave its best. He is also the teacher of both Symphonic and Jazz band. He introduced each piece of music before playing and the solo players after the play, and was also the host of the night.

The MSHS String Ensemble was the first to play, three pieces of music in a roll was really uneasy. The three pieces of music were The Four Seasonings, Themes from St. Paul’s Suite and In the Hall of the Mountain King. The MSHS String Ensemble was assembled by three Violins, two Violas, one Cello and two Double Basses. Some of them are freshmen this year, some of them played the instrument since primary school.

The MSHS Jazz Band followed after, approximately 30 members played 3 pieces of Jazz: Aftershock, Blue Suede Shoes and Mambo Jambo. The MSHS Jazz Band was assembled by one Flutes, four Clarinets, four Alto Saxophones, two Tenor Saxophones, three Trumpet, six Trombones, two Guitars, three Pianos, one Electric Bass and one Drums. The perfect performance of the Jazz Band brought the audiences to a happy atmosphere. According to Leve, some of the musicians in the Jazz Band was the first time to play their instrument. For example Kimi Shoepflin(9) was playing Alto Saxophone in the Jazz Band but played Flute in the Symphonic Band. So for the Jazz Band members,this was really a big accomplishment.

The MSHS Symphonic Band was the last to perform, and the audience gave them encouragement by clapping while they were preparing. Same as the previous bands, the Symphonic Band played three pieces of music: Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs, October and Hocus Pocus. These three beautiful music pieces was played by six Flutes, one Oboe, seven Clarinets, one Bass Clarinet, one Bassoon, two Alto Saxophone, two Tenor Saxophone, seven Trumpets, one French Horn, ten Trombones, two Baritones and three Percussions. During these three pieces of music, most of the instrument’s first chair got his or her chance to play a short solo, the band is a place for students who got abilities in music to show their talents. Some students joined the band since middle school and continued this as a hobby.

At the very end of the concert, Leve announced that the next MSHS Bands concert will be held in December, and he thanked for audiences and parents supporting the students for the time and money to play the instruments they liked. This was the very first time combining String Ensemble, Jazz Band and Symphonic Band together showed up in front of the audiences, they won a warm applause. Leve introduced the MSHS Band Program this year that there is a fantastic growth of numbers in both program and standards. And it is a important thing for students doing the things they loved and enjoyed.