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Music lovers packed the Bucknall Theater on May 9 for a special performance by many of Harker’s youngest musicians, as several instrumental groups took the stage at the Spring Music Concert.
The show started fittingly enough with a performance of “The Harker School Song” by the Bucknall Choir, lower school orchestra and lower school string ensemble, led respectively by Kellie Binney-Smart, Jennifer Sandusky, Louis Hoffman and Toni Woodruff.
The show moved from group to group, demonstrating a wide range of material and versatility. The Bucknall Choir returned to sing several pieces, including an Irish folk song, a Schubert art song and a fun calypso number called “Shake the Papaya Down.”
Hoffman directed the Lower School Jazz Band, who appeared onstage multiple times, performing such tunes as “Tenor Madness” by Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time.”
The first-year strings group performed “Can-Can” by Jacques Offenbach and the traditional song “Lightly Row,” while the first-year winds performed folk songs from the Australian, French and Czech peoples.
A special portion of the show was dedicated to student composers Paul Kratter, grade 4, and Jun Lin, grade 5. Kratter performed his piece, “The Crazy Dude,” on tenor saxophone, while Lin, a violinist, performed his piece, titled “Fight of the Fish,” with his mother, Sieun, on cello.
Lower school performing arts teacher Danny Dunn acted as technical director to make sure both the performers and the audience enjoyed a smooth run of the show.