Last Thursday, M-A’s choir and guitar classes held their annual Spring Concert, directed by teacher Brooke Steele. In total, M-A’s talented musicians brought to life 23 pieces..
The night began with the choir performances, the first of which was “Time” by Jennifer Lucy Cook, a catchy and upbeat tune that got music flowing throughout the PAC. It was followed by the fantastic, “Wayfaring Stranger” by Adam Podd, with an added piano that created a moody and powerful piece.
For a change of pace, the next song was “Anthem” by Michael Abels, which was originally written for the horror movie “Us.” The cryptic nature of the choir’s chants and the rising intensity throughout the song, amplified by accompanying drums, exuded a feeling of horror and suspense to the audience.
The choir also performed the harmonious “Baba Yetu” by Christopher Tin; “Bellas Final,” a hopeful and serene piece by Mark Brymer; and “Witness,” which tells a vivid story involving many characters, culminating in a synchronized finish after a much more disconnected start—an evolution the choir captured perfectly.
After the elegant choir performance, senior Ashlyn Roeder and Nirmal Zaldana performed “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce on acoustic guitar. “Space Oddity” by David Bowie followed, performed by Jack Thayer, Angel Gomez, senior Carson Sanie, and junior Matthew Jimenez. The guitarists and vocalists worked well together to craft an emotional performance.
Steele said, “The guitar students picked their own pieces to perform, which gave them more control.”
Steve Lacy’s love song “Infrunami,” performed by David Figueroa, Edilberto Torres, John Niko, Danny Angel, Sanie, and Kelize Aleman, brought out the electric guitars. Torres then performed “The Last of Us” by Gustavo Santaolloa. The solo performance gave the song a lonely and quiet vibe, while occasional increases in intensity made the piece uniquely emotional.
Freshman Matthew Teeple, Eybard Cabrera Zelaya, James Cordero, Chris Carranza Vega, Mayco Ortega Rodriguez, and Calvin Blanford then performed Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit,” which impressed the audience with its complete composition involving multiple guitars, a vocalist, and a drummer. The musicians were expressive and perfected the full song, and the audience cheered wildly after it concluded.
Teeple, the lead guitarist for the song, said, “I felt like I knew what I was doing and I was surprisingly able to keep my energy up without messing up at all. Ever since I decided to play this song for the concert, I’ve been practicing at my house, making sure I got every part right with the correct timing.”
Freshman and choir member Aarushi Srivastava said, “You could tell they had a lot of fun with it and it felt like a true rock-and-roll performance.”
Seniors Jay Bae, Julia Kraemer, and Eduardo Rivera-Ceja then performed “Break on Through” by The Doors. The song featured a well-synchronized vocal, bass, and piano trio.
Senior Adie Pecson, junior Hayden Frye, Sarina Dadashi, Srivastava, and freshman Julia Maggio performed Taylor Swift’s “Style,” which was another standout performance. The singers brought out all the emotion present in the original and the final flourish was bombastic and powerful.
Sanie, sophomore Nora Acosta Aparico, and Perla Carlos Avila performed “Corre” by Jesse y James, a Spanish song. Even without knowing the lyrics, the guitars made the piece emotional and resonant.
Teeple said, “I liked Lily McKeithan’s performance of ‘Blackbird’ by John Lennon and Paul McCartney because the song is good and I think it’s impressive that she played it by herself.”
Sophomores Matt Nicholas and Wes Peterson performed Extreme’s “More than Words.” Both students played the guitar while singing, and the instrumentation was upbeat, emotional, and rhythmic, inviting the audience to snap along to the beat. Peterson concluded the piece with an impressive flurry of plucks.
Filipo Maalo, Ivan Juarez Baez, Andres Valencia Sanchez, Richie Dunn, Thayer, Kate Barker, and Isabel Matta performed the penultimate song of the show, “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay. With five guitarists, the performance was emotional and evocative.
Blanford said, “I like the original version, and the guitarists and singers recreated it well.”
Seven guitarists and four singers performed John Denver’s famous “Country Roads” as the performers urged the audience to sing along for the final song of the evening.
Srivastava said, “This concert is special because a lot of the seniors I performed with will be moving on, so this concert was the last time we’re going to sing with each other.”
Steele added, “This was my last concert at M-A, so it will always be special to me, and I’m glad everyone collaborated to put it together. I think music as a whole is a great way to connect people and to express things that are sometimes hard to say with words.”
