The Weir High Wind Ensemble have brought a new event to Weir.
This year has been eventful for the Weir High band. Another new band director, new competition experience, and new awards defined this year. Now, they put on a new show: The WHS Bands Pops Concert. They bring shows and movies to the stage in a unique way. This is after their previous concert, The Spirit of the Season, which took place in December.
A pops concert is when a group plays popular music, show tunes, and well-known classical pieces. In Weir’s case, the band performed popular music from shows and movies, including songs from “The Lion King” and “Harry Potter.” Most pieces were a selection of music from each of their respective shows/movies.
Band director Doug Torres said, “I have always enjoyed going to a symphony when they have a Pops series. Sometimes, those concerts are just music from movies or music by John Williams.” John Williams is a composer who made music for the first three “Harry Potter” films and the “Indiana Jones” franchise.
The band is also fundraising for new uniforms for the band, color guard, and drum major. These uniforms were designed by Emily Hores’ fashion design class last semester. The pops concert served as a fundraiser for said uniforms. The uniforms were done as a final project in the new fashion class last semester. The class was split into a few groups and were instructed to design a new uniform for each group in the band, exposing an unfamiliar group to something they have never been concerned with.
The concert, despite having little time for preparation and plans changing, went well according to Torres. He says that “kids sounded amazing, the crowd was great, and overall, the atmosphere was truly special.” Along with this, the band raised around $400-500 from this concert.
Elizabeth Fletcher, a saxophone player in the band, says “I think it went really well, considering we lost some people.” She also said her favorite songs the band performed were “Highlights from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “The Magic of Harry Potter.”
The band only has one more concert for this year. Their spring concert occurs Saturday May 11th at 3pm where they will perform a selection of music from this event, along with a few new pieces.
