As the 2019-20 school year drew to a close, the upper school orchestra and jazz band recorded special performances dedicated to the Class of 2020. Student musicians rigorously practiced their parts and recorded them individually, and music coach Paul Woodruff, an engineer, edited the submitted individual parts to create the final product. 

“I can not tell you how lucky and thankful we are for the support of this project from the beginning,” said upper school instrumental music teacher Dave Hart. “As we worked to create an online curriculum for the kids in all the instrumental groups, it really became clear that we all yearned for collaboration that orchestra and jazz band provides on a daily basis when we rehearse in person.”

The orchestra performed an original piece composed and conducted by sophomore Spencer Cha, which features all of the 31 seniors in the orchestra. The jazz band recorded Charlie Parker’s “Bloomdido” and the standard “Misty” by Erroll Garner. 

Hart gave special recognition to Woodruff, whose expertise made the project possible. “Paul was able to bring our vision to reality, which was no small undertaking!” Hart exclaimed. “I also want to highlight Spencer’s hours of work to create such a thoughtful and musical composition that features all the seniors. He started working on this last summer and worked on edits with me and other teachers throughout the school year.“

Videos of the performances are embedded below and can also be viewed at Harker’s Vimeo page.

Harker Upper School Orchestra 2020 Liberation from The Harker School on Vimeo.

Harker Upper School Jazz Band 2020 from The Harker School on Vimeo.