As a person walks by the music room on any given day during the fall season; one is guaranteed to hear a gentle chorus of flowing voices or the ebullient tones of string instruments. All these young musicians work diligently in order to prepare for an significant event; The Winter Concert.
But as students and faculty from all across Barstow’s community stand upon the lofty, shining stage, one may begin to wonder what arduous work goes into creating a majestic, successful Winter Concert.
“The people who worked on (the concert) didn’t just work hard, they trimmed it and changed it so it wouldn’t just work for them, but also good for the people watching,” stated Nelly Nasima ‘29. She hopes that her peers can take the time to appreciate the work of the performers, and the people behind the scenes.
Part of this work is the addition of the 7th and 8th grade choir this year, the time spent teaching and organizing students in choir for Dr. Josh Markley, the Head of the Barstow Music Department, has dramatically increased. But still, Dr. Markley optimistically has reported that the progress of these students’ work is “…right on track, if not a little ahead” of the schedule that had been planned by him.
But besides the expected conducting, practicing, and working with the multitude of logistics. Dr Markley states that “I am very mindful of choosing literature that is telling stories from different parts of the world and different lived experiences.” He does this in order to let both the performers as well as the audience experience how music can connect people of unique walks of life together and how music holds different meanings to different people. He hopes that when people come to watch the Winter Concert, they can leave the concert having a better understanding of another culture or story.
”The reason why I like Winter Concert performances is because you get to see the hard work everyone has done, the work they’ve been doing for basically half a year on a single performance.”stated Nelly Nasima ‘29, a member of Barstow’s Orchestra and the 7th and 8th grade Choir. She hopes to see the hard work of many students and Barstow faculty members to the rest of the community.
”[Music] is a stress relief,” remarked AJ Buckner ‘29, a member of Barstow’s Orchestra and the 7th and 8th grade Choir. Buckner ‘29 further added that music, to them personally, “is the scrumptious existence of an art.” They believe that music should be shared and so others can find one’s own meaning in it — and the Winter Concert provides this wonderful opportunity to share the art of music.
The Winter Concert is much more than a simple musical performance; it allows members of Barstow’s community to fully express and share their skills and love for music in its full glory.
