On February 25th, Belmont Hill hosted its seasonal ensemble concert, under the direction of Ms. Allen, Mrs. Carye, and Mr. Patterson. The Symphonic Orchestra began with a performance of “Fossils,” a movement in “Carnival of the Animals” by composer Camille Saint Saens; the movement featured solos from Wesley Zhu ’25 on the violin, TJ Cannistraro ’24 on percussion, and Ernest Lai ’25 on the clarinet. The orchestra then transitioned into “Cinema Paradiso” by Ennio Morricone from the popular 1988 movie feature, with an additional solo spotlight on Adrian Tan ’25 on the piano. When asked about all of the performances within the concert, Wesley stated, “This winter concert was really able to reflect everyone’s hard work and dedication throughout the school year, as well as let some individual guys be able to stand out in their respective repertoire. It seemed like a fun time for everyone sitting in the audience as well; we had a lot of family members and several teachers there too.”
Then, the B-Flats were introduced to the stage under Mr. Patterson, beginning with “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King, with Thomas Danahy ’26 soloing. Next, they performed “Sarah’s Place” by Zach Bryan, with a sung duet by Ian Hendrix ’24 and Luke Travaglini ’24. In a similar fashion, “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, was performed in a duet by Thomas Sheehan ’25 and Alex Tosi ’25. A Valentine’s Day Medley was additionally performed, and notably arranged by the B-Flats themselves; the performance included bits featured from “When I Was Your Man” (Bruno Mars), “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” (Paul Anka), “Home” (Phillip Phillips), and “My Girl” (The Temptations.) Finally, they concluded on stage with a group performance under Mr. Patterson of “Encourage My Soul” by Charles A. Tindley. Shortly after, Zach Park ’28 gave a solo singing act of “Golden Hour” by JVKE.
Next, the Upper School Jazz Band took the stage under the direction of Ms. Allen; they performed “Have You Met Miss Jones?” by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, with TZ Snail ’26 featuring on the piano. The Middle School Jazz Combo also took to the stage soon after to play “Filthy McNasty” by Horace Silver.
The last performance of the February Winter Concert was by the Upper School Rock Band under Ms. Allen, finishing the evening with the song “Welcome to Paradise” by popular band Green Day. All in all, it was a great evening with fantastic renditions of popular scores by the Symphonic Orchestra, B-Flats, Upper School Jazz Band, Middle School Jazz Combo, and Upper School Rock Band; the audience enjoyed strong performances from individual solo features within the group presentations as well.
The Panel would like to give a huge thank you to Ms. Allen, Mrs. Carye, and Mr. Patterson for the careful organization and direction of all the ensembles and groups involved, as well as each soloist who performed in the Winter Concert.
