Belmont Hill Musicians Shine in Fall Concert

For the music community at Belmont Hill, no genre or playing style is off limits. Nowhere was this more evident than at the annual Fall Concert, where upper and middle school musicians put on a night full of impressive performances. 

Under the leadership of Director of Music Donnell Patterson and Director of Instrumental Music Dan Fiori, the evening’s program showcased the wide array of musical groups active on campus. The Orchestra, Middle School Rock Band, Middle School Jazz Ensemble, Upper School Jazz Ensemble, and B-Flats demonstrated that from Tchaikovsky to The Eagles, Duke Ellington to Queen, no sound was out of their reach. 

Even the performances within the individual groups showed off incredible range. “The Orchestra performed two pieces by composers 150 years apart from one another: Romantic composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and film composer Hans Zimmer,” Mr. Fiori noted. “Both of these selections gave the musicians a chance to be tested by frequently changing tempos and key centers, which is a fun but challenging task this early in the school year.”

The musicians performed a selection of pieces during Community Block later in the week for the entire school to hear the results of their hard work and talent.

A complete list of the program and performers can be found below. The musicians will return to the Chapel stage in February for the annual Winter Concert. 

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Program

Orchestra
Russian Choral & Overture
Based on Tchaikovsky’s Op. 39, No. 24 and Russian Folk Tunes
Adapted & Arranged by Merle J. Isaac

Selections from The Dark Knight
Hans Simmer & James Newton Howard
Arranged by Douglas E. Wagner
Guest Musician: Henry Stewart, percussion

Middle School Rock Band
Another One Bites the Dust
John Deacon

Middle School Jazz Ensemble
Caravan
Duke Ellington, Irving Mills & Juan Tizol
Arranged by John Berry

Upper School Jazz Ensemble
Sidewinder
Lee Morgan
Arranged by Mark Taylor

Povo
Freddie Hubbard
Arranged by Dan Fiori

B-Flats
Guest Musician: Arinzechukwu Anasiudu, percussion

Abba Father
The Acapella Company
Soloists: Griffin Vail & Pierce Morris

Good Ole Acapella
Vineyard Sound
Soloists: Grant Hanser & Fritz Sainthelmy

Hold in the World
The Eagles
Soloists: Patrick Snail & Sawyer Kilbride

Vivir Mi Vida
Mark Anthony
Soloists: Arun Lenhart

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Performers

Orchestra
Assistant Conductor: Meghan Carye
Jack Baker, trombone
Ryan Chang-Wu, violin
Jaydin Chen, violin
Thomas Danahy, cello
Stephane Durocher, cello
Grant Hanser, cello
Cotter Healey, violin
Jianji Hou, piano & percussion
Suhas Kaniyar, viola
Jack Kogler, viola
Daniel Laird, clarinet
Jiaden Lee, cello (Pres.)
Ryan Li, violin
Elan Libman, violin
Harry Liu, cello
Jayden Lotin, violin
Hyunwoo Oh, clarinet
David Romney, violin
Patrick Snail, violin
James Strohacker, viola
Zachary Weed, clarinet
Nathan Zhang, piano & percussion

Middle School Rock Band
Liam Hertzke, drums
Arun Lenhart, voice
Felix Krockmalnic, bass
Michael Shortsleeve, guitar

Middle School Jazz Ensemble
Jack Baker, trombone
Daniel Collins, alto saxophone
Ronan Patel, keyboard
Jiajia Shen, alto saxophone
Henry Stewart, drums
Emrys Tierney, piano

Upper School Jazz Ensemble
Pierce Courtney, guitar
Finn Davis, drums & percussion
Tiernan Emmert, bass
Ryan Ho, alto saxophone
Brandon Li, alto saxophone
James Palumbo, trumpet
Benjamin Qin, alto saxophone
Riaan Shah, drums & percussion
William Skordos, guitar (VP)
Timothy Snail, piano (Pres.)
Jai Somani, tenor saxophone
Ethan Xie, tenor saxophone
Brady Yoo, baritone saxophone
Roger Zhang, vibraphone & keyboard

B-Flats
Tenor:
Andrew Agular
Jackson Bartlett (Co-Pres.)
Trey Clayton
Jack Flaherty
Grant Hanser (Co-Pres.)
Saku Kerr
Arun Lenhart
Riley Marth
Zachary Park (Co-Pres.)
Arman Patel
Owen Popkowski-Smith
Yaseen Saeed
Patrick Snail

Baritone:
Marc Tyler Jarvis
Joshua Langham
Pierce Morris (Co-Pres.)
Griffin Vail

Bass:
Chinweikem Anyanwu
Ryan Azzun
Jackson Bowhers
Savion Cineus
Hunter Lee
Sawyer Kilbride
Fritz Sainthelmy
Joe Zellner