Winter Concert Series Recap
- paxpawprintsmag
- Jan 27
- 5 min read
By Teagan Young
The Patuxent High Performing Arts capped off the holiday season with their fantastic winter concert series the first week of December.
The winter orchestra concert was on Tuesday, December 2nd. During the concert the string orchestra, chamber orchestra, advanced orchestra, and Panther Orchestra performed, and were lead by Patti Fraley. The Panther orchestra is the students from both the string and advanced orchestra. They come together to make a bigger and filling sound to end the concert with a bang.
Mrs. Fraley says “I thought it went really well! The energy was great, and the students performed well. The public perception was well perceived. We would like people to know that concerts are open to all. We love having the school community come out to hear them. They are not super long, only an hour. The spring concert is on May 5th at 7pm, we would love to have more of the general public attending!”
This year their last song was “Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo 12/24” by Paul O'Neill and Robert Kinkel. This song ended the concert with all instruments in the Panther orchestra playing along with the guitar played by Jacob Tammaro, the piano played by Cael Murphy, and the drums by Kyle Hensler.
For a couple of songs, the orchestra was also joined by percussionist McKayla Moreno.
“I feel great about my last concert! I’m not technically in concert band or orchestra so for Mrs. Fraley to invite me to join this experience, I was excited!” Moreno expressed, “The concert went smooth, and I was glad to be able to see the others perform. I thought the pieces that Mrs. Fraley and the chamber orchestra chose were uniquely beautiful in their self. I wouldn’t say I had a particular song that I liked alone but I would say majority of the chamber orchestras pieces. They were so calming, and everyone in the chamber orchestra played them fantastically.”
McKayla took time to reflect on her overall experience in band. “One thing I like about playing in the band is how orchestrated (no pun intended) Mrs. Fraley runs the rehearsals and even the concerts. She’s very “go with the flow” but if she wants something done, she’ll get it done. Shout out Mrs. Fraley! Overall, it was a great experience and I’m glad I was given the opportunity to be the backbone to the orchestra!”
The chamber orchestra is a select few students who chose to take the time during lunch and outside of school to learn songs different from the ones they learn in class. One song the Chamber Orchestra played was “The Creaking Tree”. This was a very challenging song, with a swing style. It was especially challenging for the seniors, Jordyn Eppard-Wilcots, Will Compton, Amanda Noll, Alaina Patel, and Teagan Young who had solos. Senior violin two, Alaina Patel said, “It was very fun and exciting because we put a lot of work into it, especially for the senior who got a spotlight in ‘The Creaking Tree’. It was eventful, but we kept going. The mishaps lightened the mood.”
Senior violaist Will Compton explained, “We have never had this amount of talent and dedication on stage at once. Seeing not just the upperclassmen, but the underclassmen binding and making incredible music was a true joy to behold.”
The Winter Series continued with the Chorus concert held on Wednesday, December 3rd. Led by Marisa Drake, the Chorus performed 12 songs! There are many different groups within the chorus program, of which are Concert Choir and Chorale, All County chorus, Chorus 1, small ensemble, and chamber choir. Each group performed one to three songs!
Overall, the concert was amazing! Mrs. Drake stated "Our winter concert was a huge success. The choral department graduated about 25 seniors in the spring which left many big shoes to fill. Our returning choral members alongside our many new freshmen choral members stepped up and performed beautifully. They were respectful in the audience and onstage as our main focus in the winter is concert and performance etiquette. They did not disappoint, leaving their director feeling very proud. The night was also celebratory; we took a moment on stage to acknowledge the 43 students who auditioned and were selected for the 2025 All County Honors choir. These students sang Mozart's "Lacrymosa" from the All County repertoire. My favorite piece from the winter was the opening, "Until I Reach My Home". This song was energetic and featured wonderful soloists, it was a lot of fun to work on. I am so looking forward to adjudication and our spring concert."
Senior Kaniya Jones stated “The winter concert isn’t as emotional as the spring one, but it still felt bittersweet. I love singing because it helps me express the feelings, I’m feeling without feeling pressured about it.”
Senior Randy McMillian said “With this being my last concert it was definitely a very fun concert. I love singing because it’s a very expressive and amazing thing to do. My favorite song is ‘I’ll never study’. It was really beautiful and fun.”
The series wrapped up with the winter band concert was on Thursday, December 4th. Patuxent's band teacher and director Dan Romagno conducted the concert.
It was another successful concert! Mr. Romagno said, "This Winter concert was AWESOME. We had a mix of traditional band music with some holiday favorites sprinkled in. Jazz opened the concert with a Ragtime version of jingle bells and a cool version of the hymn ‘Sing We Now of Christmas’ that was cleverly renamed ‘SWING We now of Christmas’. There is a lot of talent in the Jazz band with notable solos from Merrick Henson on alto sax, and Charlie Hapip on Guitar. The band needed an extra trumpet player, so I filled in and played with the band.”
Mr. Romagno continued to explain the intended atmosphere of the concert by sharing, “We carried the heavy metal atmosphere of jazz band into the wind ensemble portion of our concert as well and played ‘Metal Bell Carol’ and ‘Mary Did You Know’: holiday favorites that both included a rock-band style percussion section behind the band. I love to incorporate more modern rock and pop sounds into the traditional wind ensemble setting: it is a great way for our band students to learn necessary skills while still having fun and creating an enjoyable concert for our audience."
Charlie Hapip is a senior in the PHS band. Charlie reflected on the winter concert and shared, “I feel kind of sad it's going be the last winter concert but excited for new concerts and experiences. I feel like it went really well but we could've prepared a little bit better. Overall, I can't complain. My favorite song is ‘The Reeds’ because the music was incredibly beefy for percussion and fun to play. I also loved metal bell carol because I got to play the guitar. I love having the opportunity to play beautiful music and interact with the community. I'm glad that we were able to play so much even though some of the music was harder than what we were used to!”
Summer Hawkins is a senior flute player. She stated “I like being in band because I’ve been doing band for 9 years so it’s familiar to me. And I’m pretty good at it if I do say so myself. I felt sad with it being my last concert, but it’s been fun to help out other kids with stuff. Band is great, everyone should see the concert!”
Overall, each concert—orchestra, chorus, and band—all went smoothly and well. Make sure to make your way to the concerts in May!
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