Fulton Band Spring Concert
By Chuck Krafft
May 5, 2015
In many of my Bleacher
Denizen blogs during the past few years, I have enjoyed listening to the Fulton
band play at halftime and before the games.
In 2011 and 2015, I also enjoyed listening to them play the National
Anthem before Fulton’s basketball semifinal games at the Breslin Center on
Michigan State’s campus!
Above are three of the many
games where the Fulton Band has brightened basketball games and other sporting
events. (The Bleacher Denizen
apologizes; in the middle game, I referred to the band as the Junior High Band;
I imagine it was probably grades 7-12.)
Fulton Band Director Phillip
Baker was kind enough to invite me to the Spring Band Concert. It will feature four selections from the
fifth grade band, four selections from the sixth grade band and seven
selections from the High School/Middle School Band.
Mr. Baker opened the concert
by introducing the Fifth Grade band. He
made humorous references to the struggles one faces when playing a musical
instrument. (Your Blogger is a
piano/keyboard player; he remembers those struggles well.) He told an especially funny story about his
own experience with his parents and his new instrument. He then showed pride in the strides these
young musicians have made in their first year in the program.
The Fifth Grade Band played
“Copycats”, “Attack of the Garden Gnomes”, Tyrannosaurus Rocks” and “Hard Rock
Blues.” They played with enthusiasm and
did their best to play well and follow Mr. Baker’s direction. The “Attack of the Garden Gnomes” was a fun
song that included the band stomping on the floor in time to simulate the
attack. It was fun to see how the band
really enjoyed playing that song.
The Sixth Grade Band was more
polished and experienced on their instruments.
Two of their selections were actually songs that your Blogger has played
in bands or jam sessions at one time or another. (“Hang on Sloopy” and “Moondance.” ) The other songs were “Raiders March” and
“Little Shop of Horrors.”
They played the songs well
and with enthusiasm. The two songs I
knew were easy to recognize and captured the essence of the songs from back
when they were radio hits! The other
songs were also done pretty well.
It was now time for the
Junior/Senior High School Band to play.
These are the veterans that I’ve enjoyed many times at football and
basketball games.
Mr. Baker started off the
evening featuring his two seniors, Hannah Salisbury and Ryan Womble on the
Clarinet as he had only the high school players back them up on
“Serenade.” The two seniors took turns
playing featured leads and did quite well.
He then invited the seventh
and eighth graders to join the band as they played “Star Wars Saga” , which was
a medley of theme music from all six Star Wars Movies. I’ve only seen episode four, but I know they
nailed that part of the medley; the rest of it also sounded great!
Then he recognized Noah
Pontius, Lauren Duflo, Dylan Lewis and Jared Thaler, students who did well at the
MSBOA District V Solo and Ensemble Festival Competition. Lauren Duflo also participated at the State
Solo & Ensemble Festival.
Noah Pontius, who played a
full drum kit on the Star Wars song and did a wonderful job (as good as some of
the professionals I’ve played with) did an Unaccompanied Solo on the snare drum. He was really disciplined and did not lose
his concentration even when a piece of his sheet music hit the floor. (Were this article not about the students, I
could relate a time when a piano book fell on my hands during an eighth grade
piano competition. Let’s just say that
Noah handled it far more expertly!)
He was followed up by Lauren
Duflo, who achieved a Superior Rating at both the local and state level Solo &
Ensemble Competitions with her performance on the trumpet. She did a wonderful job with her trumpet
solo, the “Concert Rondo” by Mozart!
The full band played “The
Pink Panther” by Henry Mancini. The
totally captured the stealthy vibe of the piece and did a fine job with their
dynamics as they perfectly raised and lowered their volume as Mr. Baker directed
them to do so.
The next piece was a “Russian
Folk Song” by Beethoven, played as a duet by Dylan Lewis on the Tenor Saxophone
and Jared Thaler on the Trumpet.
The finale was “The Magic of
Harry Potter.” While I am not personally
familiar with this piece, the band was really sound, worked well together and
did a great job executing the dynamics under Mr. Baker’s direction.
Mr. Baker then saluted his
seniors, Ryan Womble and Hannah Salisbury, who had been with the band for eight
years. He thanked them for their
dedication and their leadership and spoke of their college plans.
Fulton has a wonderful music
program and features students who play their instruments and execute their
songs really well! I thoroughly enjoyed
the concert!
