The Aliso Niguel Concert Band, Wind Ensemble and Fall Jazz Band held their fall concert in the theater at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 10.
Mr. Ma, the band director at Aliso, opened the concert by thanking all of the parents, friends and staff for attending.
The Fall Jazz Band kicked off the concert with their first piece entitled “Cantaloupe Island.” This piece featured many soloists including Matthew Carbonara (10) on tenor saxophone, Evan Brusky (12) on trumpet and Carlo Ocampo (9) on drums.
They finished their section with one more piece entitled “Moten Swing.” This piece showcased Koa Densley (10) on piano, Carbonara on tenor saxophone and Brusky on trumpet.
The Jazz Band here at Aliso usually only plays during second semester, but by popular demand, Mr. Ma figured out a way to have Jazz Band play year round. During these past couple weeks, the Jazz Band students have been scheduling at Mr. Ma’s Wolverine + every Tuesday to rehearse together.
They sounded incredible, especially for only rehearsing a few weeks prior to the performance.
After the Fall Jazz Band segment, the Wind Ensemble entered the stage. Mr. Ma allowed groups of students to go into the music library and hand select a piece that they wanted to play for the concert.
The first ensemble included Tristan Espinonsa (11) and Nima Etemadi (11) on alto saxophones and Darren Brusky (9) and Isaiah Park (12) on trumpet. They performed a piece called “Sailor’s Hornpipe.”
Espinonsa says, “It had a majestic tone, so we simply just had to play it.”
Damian Duer (12) and Densley followed on the marimba. They played a warm up piece together and it was spectacular.
Finishing the Wind Ensemble section was Evelyn Man (12), Sophia Lavenstein (11), Michael Huang (10) and Elisha Ng (11) on clarinet and Daniel Clasen (12) on the bass clarinet.
Last but not least was the Concert Band. They performed three pieces entitled “Korean Folk Rhapsody,” “Into the Storm” and “The Haunted Carousel.”
During the Concert Band performance, many kids from the Aliso Niguel Marching Band performed with them in order to fill missing gaps in the music. Some students include Kat Tran (12) on percussion, Lilly Catanach (11) on flute and Noah Kim (10) on the horn.
“I am always willing to help the ensemble groups out as I love playing with them on and off the field. I had a great time at the concert,” says Tran.
All performers did an amazing job and there was great support from the audience throughout the concert.
