001[Music] Good evening. Welcome to our junior honors concert. My name is Pam Frell. I'm the supervisor of arts education for Arlington public schools. Today or tonight, we will hear performances by our elementary chorus, grade five, our junior honors orchestra, grades four to six, and our junior honors band, grades four to six. as you know, you've been driving and uh encouraging your children to practice in preparation for tonight, and we're really looking forward to hearing them. Uh I would also like to ask if we have any administrators, cabinet members, um here tonight if you would stand so we can thank you for your support. And as you know, not just the teachers who are here tonight as the directors and managers and accompanists, we have a lot of teachers who prepare your children for this wonderful
002opportunity and they're also here tonight supporting them. So, let's give them a round of applause, please. Just a few more thank yous before we start. I'd like to thank Mr. Chris Monroy, who's the honors program coordinator, Miss Kelly Breedlove, the arts education specialist, and Miss Michelle Scott, the arts education administrative specialist, for all your work on these programs. [Applause] And last, we would like to thank you in the audience, the parents, extended family members, neighbors who have supported these talented students, brought them to the auditions, rehearsals, and encouraged them to practice for this special event. Thank you all. So, just a reminder to turn your cell phone off so that everyone can enjoy the performance. And also, if you would like a recording, please see the insert in your program or Ron out in the
003foyer. Our first group tonight is the elementary honors chorus under the direction of Miss Margie Dwire and accompanied by Mr. Ray Faison and their manager, Miss Molly Haynes. Their first piece that they will perform is Canananas by James Dejardin. Please welcome the elementary honors chorus to the stage. [Music] TV. I want to sing with the voice of a thousand generations. I want to sing with the strength of a million mighty nations. I want to sing with the soul of a powerful stream. The whisper of a dream you gave to me. The voice might sound from the ground. We sing. We sing. We sing. We sing. Let us all be born. To the praise the Lord. We sing. We sing. We sing. We sing. Give [Applause] me the dreamers who reach for something higher. I want
004to sing for the artist who light our souls with fire. I want to sing for the heroes who fight for our lives. The truth. Lift up your eyes. Let the mighty sound from the ground. We sing. We sing. We sing. We sing. Let a song be born. Celebrate the Lord. We sing. We sing. We sing. We sing. Give it up. Give it up. Take it out. Give it up. Give it [Music] up. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] How beautiful is the rain after the dust and heat in the broad and fiery trees in a narrow lane. How beautiful is the rain? How beautiful is the rain? After the dusted in the broad [Music] tree, how beautiful is the rain? Drip drop drip drop drip drop drip drop across the window pipes and ros and swift
005and wide with a bloody time like the gods ro the rainbow of the rain. How it travels along the roofs like a trample. How it flushes and struggles up from the overflowing spout across the plane to the fields of rain. the [Music] brain. Patter go the rain patter. P the [Music] rain goes the rain is a [Music] pattern in the rain. After the dust and heat in the fall and fiery tree in the narrow [Music] day, the beautiful [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Can I go where the feels? A wrinkle inside can lead to a ride down where the [Music] sky. A little house in a great big woods conceals a secret garden. The ging tree. It grows there for me, for you and all our friends. These are the stories of my life that
006live from age to age. Come with me and turn the page. forless men of for me. [Music] Glory day it leads me away and I'm lost in [Music] wonderful Christmas and told me a song they said had a very bad day and now I understand these are the stories of my life that live from age to age. Come with me and turn the page. So many stories, so many tales, so many places to go. Will you share them all with me? Only then [Music] will you come sail with me and discover treasure? I left your little say goodbye to the moon and that's where I shall [Music] be and soon I will [Music] [Applause] be such a good friend to me and to everything. These are the stories of my life that live from age
007to age. are with me and [Music] turn and turn the turn of turn and turn away. Turn the [Music] [Applause] Thank you. [Music] She [Music] might sing for a Walk [Music] for Heat. Heat. [Music] Happy is [Music] Jesus seat. [Music] Easy. [Music] Money. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hallelujah. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Um, okay. So, 10 weeks and it comes down to 20 minutes and it just goes by so fast. I I cannot do our last piece [Music] um without recognizing the commitment that these students have shown and you parents for getting them here week after week and then of course snow day Monday Tuesday. So thank you so so much. They were an absolute delight. We could not do this program without the support of course of our fine arts department and superintendent. So make sure you
008have your voice matter surveys. Um but More importantly, I want to thank in particular Ray Faison and our companiness [Applause] [Music] [Applause] because and Miss Molly Haynes, wherever she is hiding, she is our last. All right, this is our last song and we are going to defy gravity here. [Music] Something has changed within me. Something is not to say. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. Too late for second. Too late to go back to sleep. It's time to trust my instincts. Close my eyes. [Music] and gravity. Gravity, you can't pull me down. [Music] Someone says they're [Music] so Heat. Heat. [Music] I [Applause] [Music] gravity gravity and you can't pull me [Applause] [Music] down. My future is unlimited. And I just had a vision almost like a prophecy. I know
009it sounds truly crazy and true. But I swear someday I'll [Applause] be in the sky [Music] graity. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] someone deserves a chance to fly. I'm flying [Music] sol from me. Yeah. Heat. and all of us that there is Heat [Applause] up here. [Applause] [Music] Heat up here. [Applause] Our second group this evening to perform is our elementary honors orchestra. The students are under the the direction of Miss Kristen Gomez, managed by Miss Michelle Shine Flouse. Their first piece is La Bruha, a Mexican folk waltz by Jorge Vargas. Please join me in welcoming to the stage the elementary honors orchestra. Heat. Heat. Welcome to our concert. And I would like to introduce Bri and Ikenna who will tell you a little bit about our music. Ikenna. Good evening friends, parents, teachers,
010staff and students. Our concert is about being inspired. All of these pieces are inspired by the beauty in this world. We will start our concert in Mexico with a beautiful Mexican folk wall. It's called La Bruha. It is inspired by the tradition of gorgeous Mexican folk dance music. We will then move on to Russia and a piece by Modest Mazerki called Pictures at an exhibition. He was inspired to write music to go with his friend's painting at an ex at an art exhibition. What a good friend. We then move on to Ireland where composer Chris Thomas was inspired by the natural beauty of the mountains and wrote a piece to celebrate the view between the two mountains called the gap of Dunlow. Our last piece celebrates the power and beauty of nature and is called
011Stormchaser by Kevin Mixon. He wanted to depict the different parts of a summer storm. Can you hear the rain? Thank you. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh, heat n [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat up [Applause] [Music] here. Yeah. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Yeah. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat [Music] up here. [Music] Thank you very much to the Department of Arts Education. Thank you very much to everybody at Kenmore. Thank
012you very much to Arlington Public Schools. Thank you very much to parents who do the driving, to teachers who teach these students. But most of all, thank you to these amazing students who have played some very difficult repertoire, which was a lot of fun to learn. So, a round of applause for the Zuko [Music] students. And students, I will miss you terribly. It's going to be hard next Tuesday, but I hope you practice a lot and never ever stop playing because you are so awesome. So, thank you very much. Violins will go that direction after following Avery and cellos will go this direction after following Emily. Thank you so much. [Music] Our final group this evening is our junior honors band under the direction of Mr. Greg Stickler and the manager, Miss Gina Kester. Please
013welcome the APS honors uh junior honors band to perform their first piece, Chisum by uh by William Owens. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Good evening. Woo. Before I tell you a short story about the next piece, I would like to thank Arlington County Public Schools and the Arlington community for your support. I have taught music around the country for many years and feel very much at home here at APS. I would like to thank the arts education team, my colleagues, the Kenmore custodial staff who has been very friendly and helpful, students and parents for making my experience in Arlington County Public Schools great. The piece that we're going to play next for you is called Casey's Last
014Run. This is the story. The most legendary train wreck in American railroad history occurred on April 30th, 1900 in Vaughn, Mississippi. At the throttle of engine number 382 was engineer Casey Jones, accompanied by fireman Simon Webb. Both men agreed to make the run from Memphis to Canton, Mississippi. After the assigned engineer fell ill, pulling six passenger cars through the mist and fog, engine number 382 quickly made up for lost time. Waiting at Vaughn station, however, was a disaster. There, several trains had been sidetracked to allow Casey's train to pass. But due to a ruptured air hose, one of the sidetracked freighters was unable to clear the main line, leaving cars in Casey's path. By the time Casey saw the stalled train, impact was imminent. Ordering his firemen to jump, Casey reversed the throttle and applied
015the brakes. Tragically, the engine plowed into the awaiting caboose and box cars, derailed, and then flipped on its side. Although Jones died in the wreck, he remained at the brake lever, slowed his train, and thereby thereby prevented others from dying. A report by the Illinois Central Railroad Company later concluded that Jones was at fault for the accident, having failed to respond to a flag man's warning signals, as well as torpedo detonators that were placed on the tracks. We hope you enjoy Casey's last run. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Nice. Awesome. Thank [Music] [Applause] [Music] you. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music]
016Heat. Heat. That was incredible. We're going to ask the band just to sit for a minute as we uh close out and we'll let Mr. particular tips you'd like to share? Sure. I I forgot one. I forgot one thing. Mr. Edwards, so we have a percussionist that just fell ill today. He was at the dress rehearsal yesterday and we just got an email and Mr. Edwards in the back. He's like, I'll fill in. And so, thank you to Mr. Edwards. [Music] I just want to remind the audience that we just sat for about 75 minutes listening to 10 to 12 year olds uh perform. It was pretty incredible. Um I'd like to call out our uh staff and give them a recognition as well. Starting with Mr. Greg Stinkler, Miss Gina Ker, Miss Christine Gomez,
017Miss Michelle Shy Blouse. If you all come up here to get a round of applause. is on [Applause] This [Applause] number Tonight uh tonight concludes our 2025 honors season. So this is the end of our season for this year. We look forward to seeing many students back uh next year and seeing you all at their school performances. Please be patient in the parking lot. It's always trying. Um and we look forward to uh seeing you back next year. Thank you again.