The Jazz Band will next perform at a concert on March 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the DHS Auditorium. They will be playing the music of Duke Ellington, sharing the bill with the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble. On April 24, they will join the Choraliers for their annual Jazz Night concert.
Congratulations to all of the members of the DHS Jazz Band!
After a fast food lunch at the student union, we basked in the Arizona sun for a few final minutes and left for the airport. Once we got our last two students off of standby and onto the plane, we took off for Milwaukee. We landed in rain and sleet--not very welcoming after all the great weather in Phoenix! Tired and sorry to have the trip in the past, everyone agreed that it was a grand success. The juniors are already pushing to take a small, Midwestern, bus trip next year. That's a distinct possibility!
From there, we followed a chaperone’s suggestion and detoured through Sedona. The red rock mountains were spectacular! Our driver pointed out “Snoopy Rock,” so named because it looks like Charlie Brown’s beagles lying atop his doghouse. The community itself looked like a fascinating place to shop for high end art and expensive time shares. As we continued north, we climbed a couple thousand feet on switchbacks with a precipitous drop-off over the side, not ten feet away from the bus. There was a change in the flora, shifting from desert cactus to highland scrub and pines. There was snow in the fields and on the mountain peaks. Especially beautiful was Mt. Humphrey, the highest point in the state.
Then, for the "grand" finale, we went to the Grand Canyon. I was really unprepared for the sheer majesty of it--I guess that's why they call it one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The students had a great time taking a ton of pictures of each other in every possible combination. I wondered aloud whether they were actually taking it all in--it's hard to appreciate it through a viewfiender. When I was a kid (I know, I know, back in the Dark Ages...), we didn't take many pictures because film and developing were expensive. When we visited a national monument, we looked at it, read the signs, and really experienced it. Now, it's all about the photo op. I hope our students took some time to quietly enjoy it and imagine what it took to create it.
So now we're at our new hotel in Flagstaff, and the kids are checked into their rooms. Tomorrow we head back towards Phoenix for our clinics at ASU, and then we go to the airport for our trip back to DHS. More to come...
Our day continued with a trip to the Desert Botanic Garden. It was fascinating to see such a diversity of cactus types. It was absolutely beautiful. Our guide told us all about the various ecosystems and many of the ways Natives used the plants for housing and household goods.
Next stop was Old Town Scottsdale. There was a farmer’s market in full swing, lots of fun places to eat, and plenty of Western shopping. Lots of students bought cowboy hats and checked out the jewelry; others sat on the grass in a city park. It was a great, laid-back time.
Our afternoon was spent at the Heard Museum of Native American Culture and Art. My group had a young Navajo woman as our docent. She took us through the exhibits, talking about the Katsina dolls and her own personal experience as a member of a family of weavers. It was all very interesting and beautiful. I bought a Navajo flute in the gift shop—I love having new wind instruments to play. Scattered about my home office are three or four recorders, a bamboo flute, and a xaphoon. Now I have a new addition!
After a Mexican buffet at Aunt Chilada’s, it was off to the Mesa Arts Center, a huge complex of theatres and galleries, where the Chamber Orchestra performed on the patio under the lights. It was a great example of (somewhat) spontaneous public art. People walking by or coming to the concert stopped and listened. I even saw a couple dancing. The students performed Grieg’s Holberg Suite, the first movement of Erik Ewazen’s Sinfonia for Strings, and “Tico Tico,” an old Brazilian choro tune with Mr. V playing the shaker and samba whistle. They did a wonderful job, even amidst the traffic sounds.
Then came the major cultural event of the trip, a concert by the BBC Concert Orchestra, led by Maestro Keith Lockhart. They were on the last night of a North American tour, featuring all English music. They opened with Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, by Benjamin Britten. This is an opera that I teach in music theory class, so it was a great joy to hear some of the instrumental music and remember where the various themes appeared in the opera. A number of theory students were in the audience, so they got to revisit the piece as well.
The next piece was Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto. This is one of the cornerstones in the cello repertoire, and the soloist, Sophie Shao, did not disappoint. She played the work with a ton of passion and emotion, drawing all of the sorrow out of this work that Elgar composed in his later years, after WWI and the death of his wife. They followed this with a piece I had never heard before by a composer I had never heard of. George Butterworth (no relation to the anthropomorphic maple syrup bottle) was a friend of Vaughan Williams and Holst, and like them, he was a folk song collector. His work, The Banks of Green Willow, is a delightful setting of this tune, with “Green Bushes” thrown in for good measure.
The final work was Elgar’s Enigma Variations, probably his most famous work. It’s a set of 14 short movements, all based on a theme that is never explicitly stated, and each dedicated to one of his good friends. The orchestration is beautiful, and the melodies quite stirring. The ninth movement, “Nimrod,” has been arranged for concert band. We’ll have to take that out and sight read it when we get back to DHS.
By the time we got back to the hotel, we were exhausted but full of culture, from biology to history to music. I saw a lot of tired, happy faces at the end of the night. Until I told them we were getting up before 6:00 a.m. on Sunday…
Then we stopped by Subway and picked up a ton of sandwiches to bring to our new friends at Dobson High School (another DHS!). They were very gracious hosts, allowing us to interrupt their schedule to play for them and listen to their band and orchestra. Their director, Mr. Goglia, was actually subbing in during that period, as the other directors were at a convention. He introduced us, and away we went, performing our march, chorale prelude, and overture. I was so pleased with how well the band played. Our soloists were really on top of their game!
Then the Dobson band played for us, performing a rhythmic piece by James Swearingen as well as a piece that our juniors did as freshmen, Symphonic Variations on Dona Nobis Pacem. Even though they were missing a number of key players, they sounded very good. They had a nice, refined sound and seemed to very much enjoy performing. Afterwards, we all gathered together outside for a group picture. Before we left, we gave them some choice "swag" from our DHS--awesome t-shirts and pens with the Warriors logo.
From DHS West, we traveled to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM). This is a world-renowned institution, and it is what first sparked my interest in planning a trip to Phoenix a few years ago. We had two hours to explore, but we could have used four or more. The MIM is organized geographically by continent. Within each room, there is a display for the many different countries. For example, the India exhibit has sitars, vinas, tablas, mrdingams, and more. Everyone gets headphones that pick up the sounds playing at each country. You can watch a video of Ravi Shankar and hear him play. Some of my favorites were a full-sized Indonesian gamelan ensemble, a double-belled euphonium, and all the great African percussion.
Our last stop for the night was the Rawhide Western Town, where we performed at a very nice outdoor stage in front of the sunset. The band led off the concert, followed by the symphony orchestra. They played the finale from Brahms' Symphony No. 1, "On the Trail" from The Grand Canyon Suite, and music from Lord of the Rings. It was great getting to listen to each other (a built-in audience), and our crowd was supplemented by several DHS family members and friends.
Then we had a barbecue dinner, followed by country line dancing. I was very impressed by how many students joined in! We had a great time doing the Electric Slide. Afterwards, Mr. Velleuer and I found ourselves arrested and put into the paddywagon by the local sheriff, as arranged by our kids. Mr. V was charged with freeloading, and I was busted for being "too dern bossy." Somehow, we beat the rap and were released.
All in all, a full and memorable day. Tomorrow we have a lot of sightseeing to do before the chamber orchestra plays at the Mesa Art Center in the evening as a prelude to a concert by the BBC Concert Orchestra. More to come...
Tomorrow we get to perform for the first time. Here's our set list:
Only 13 days until we leave--current temperature in Phoenix is 68. Current temperature in Deerfield: 14. I'll take that trade!
