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Malden High School Band brings the Holiday Spirit with their Winter 2024 Concert

Something for everyone: rock, pop, ensemble creations and “old school” holiday favorites

By Steve Freker

The holiday season was welcomed to Malden High School in fine fashion by the Malden High School Band on December 12, when Music Director Lauren Foley’s crew delivered a fantastic performance with the Winter 2024 Instrumental Music Concert at the Jenkins Auditorium. As the holidays usually bring “something for everyone,” so did the MHS Band, whose musical offerings ran the gamut from rock music to pop music, classical, European and back to good, old-fashioned Christmas and other holiday tunes. A large crowd was on hand for the performance – held in the venerable, historic Jenkins Auditorium at Malden High – and both the students who participated and those in attendance were excited and pleased by the show.

Malden High Blue and Gold reporter Sophie LeBlanc summarized the opening act in her recent story as, “The concert started with various performances by Foley’s small ensembles class: individual groups of about four to five musicians performing about two songs each.

“The groups included Pneumonia (Manal AbouKhalil, Josep Galindo Gaviria, Sorin Mamouzette, Sean Cochran), setting the stage with some Green Day; then Drain without the J (Amanda Souza, Imyrah Occius, Nico Sedan, Daniel Flores, Raphael Sanchez Martinez) playing ‘Blue Hair’ by TV Girl and ‘Just the Two of Us’ by Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers; and The Swashbucklers (Slade Harding, Sean Retotal, Derek Lam, Jeremiah Johnson) performing ‘Pasilyo’ by SunKissed Lola and ‘Summertime’ by George Gershwin.”

LeBlanc continued, “Following the small ensemble groups, The Bald Ensemble, a newly formed wind ensemble group, performed two Randall Standridge pieces: ‘Shadow Cove March’ – telling the tale of pirates on a mysterious island – and ‘Scream’ – an exciting piece that utilized an Aztec death whistle to create a haunting roaring effect.”

The Bald Ensemble included: Kenny Wong (Flute), Grayson Herrera and John Tran (Clarinet), Raphael Sanchez Martinez (Alto Saxophone), Kenneth Diaz Osorio (Baritone Saxophone), Dennis Liu (Trumpet), Alexander Arruda-Ciulla (Trombone), Christopher Arruda-Ciulla (Tuba) and Aryan Adhikari, Alex Drinkwater and Sean Retotal (Percussion).

The Concert Band, which is composed of mostly introductory band members, played a hearty rendition of “The Polar Express” and the Combined Band (Concert Band and Wind Ensemble) performed a musical version of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” They were assisted in the latter performance by narration from MHS faculty members Pat Laidley and Stephen Nedell, who is the MHS School Librarian. The wind ensemble, a smaller, more experienced group, mostly comprised of upperclassmen, joined the stage to perform two arrangements: ”How to Train Your Dragon” and “Russian Christmas Music.” The finale, and a big highlight of the night, was the Wind Ensemble performance of “A Christmas Festival,” which essentially is a compilation of a number of both well-known and little-known holiday favorites.

The Blue and Gold’s LeBlanc describes what happened next: As an added treat, the result of “a raffle-style fundraiser, one audience member was offered the chance to conduct the song, regardless of any prior musical experience… The lucky winner was none other than Bonnie Littlejohn, a previous conductor and drum major. The song was artfully conducted – each gesture landing perfectly – which created a beautifully spontaneous display that truly captured the spirit of Christmas.”

“I hope that the students gained the sense of community that music brings, not only between the students but also with our audience,” Foley told the MHS Blue and Gold in an online report on the concert.

“I think this concert had one of the largest crowds that I have seen for our instrumental concerts in the last few years, and I’m really excited to continue building connections with our community and give people a fun night of music!” Foley said.

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MALDEN HIGH SCHOOL CONCERT BAND

Flute: Prahlad Karthik, Jimmy Lei.

Clarinet: Sabrina Banks, Marcus Lin, Ivan Zhu.

Alto Saxophone: Dylan Huang, Nathan Morelli.

Tenor Saxophone: Aryan Adhikari, Christopher Pineda.

Trumpet: Samantha DeQuevedo, Benny Mei, Tenzin Thamchoe.

Trombone: Christopher Johnson, Emelia McWayne.

Percussion: David De La Cruz, Alex Drinkwater, John Santos Aranda, Andrew Souders.

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MALDEN HIGH SCHOOL WIND ENSEMBLE

Flute: Anniyah Azhar.

Clarinet: Dagny Boswell (Student Leader), Sarah Miller, Kimberlee Smith, John Tran.

Bass Clarinet: Grayson Herrera.

Alto Saxophone: Jacob Fuentes, Raphael Sanchez Martinez.

Tenor Saxophone: Addison McWayne (Student Leader).

Baritone Saxophone: Kenneth Diaz Osorio.

Trumpet: Dennis Liu, Sean Retotal (Student Leader).

Trombone: Lincoln Boswell (Student Leader).

Tuba: Christopher Arruda-Ciulla.

Percussion: Phi Gold, Richard McGovern (Student Leader).