Every year, the spring concert occurs with the concert band, jazz band and chorus performing songs that fit that group the best, and every year the concert has its own twist.  This year, the concert took place on May 17. A wide variety of songs were performed that brought up past memories for the director, Keith Kovalic.

        The band started the show by playing a traditional march like every year entitled, “March-Gloria.” This was followed by “Hoe Down,” which was the theme song for the Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich commercials. The choir joined in by singing “Al Shlosha D’Vaim,” featuring the first chorus solo of the night, senior Rebekah Shumsky.

        Following this solo, there was an accompaniment by freshmen Marissa Lammie on flute while the chorus sang, “Down by the Sally Gardens.” This accompaniment allowed for a transition into the band playing, “Procession of the Nobles.” The performance continued with “Live and Let Die” and Kovalic explained how this was part of his first halftime show at Aliquippa in 1990. He explained how the audience liked the song but it was also a pop tune with a good drum beat that was written for James Bond.

        Continuing with the pop songs, the chorus sang “Hold Back the River” and “A Thousand Years.” During “A Thousand Years,” a PowerPoint presentation played showing each of the mother’s of the choir members. It was organized and put together by Rebekah Shumsky as a late Happy Mother’s day gift.

The Jazz Band made an appearance, playing songs entitled, “Would I Lie to You,” “Land of Make Believe,” featuring a flute solo by Lammie, “Bellavia” and “Children of Sanchez,” with  sophmore soloists Mason Hedge on the drums and Cade Skuse on Trumpet.

The last selection that the chorus sang was “Songs of a Disney Princess.” The girl members were dressed in donated prom dresses to play the rule of princesses.  The band’s last selection was, “Arabian Dances” with a drum feature and the playing of various types of drums by the percussionists.

The songs that were performed that night held a special place in Kovalic’s life. He mentioned memories from when he was younger like listening to music while he was driving and songs he thought just had a good beat. Although he talked about how he enjoyed the music, he also talked about why he enjoys being the director of both the choir and band.

“There are many ways to be rich and I am fortunate enough in my job to be rich in the most important ones,” Kovalic said.

Although this wasn’t Kovalic’s last concert, it was for the seniors of the class of 2018. They have performed on this stage for the past 4 years and made several memories throughout the years.

Now that the concert is over, Kovalic and his drum majors junior Jordyn Wright and sophomore Cole Skuse for the next school year will begin looking for songs for the upcoming half time show in the fall. The bands next performance will be at the Kennywood parade in early August.