This year’s Erie Winter concert held amazing performances from Erie High School’s own orchestra, band and jazz band and conducted by Doug Carmichael.

The night started off with the soothing sound of the orchestra tuning their instruments. The first song they played was Beethoven’s “Allegro Con Brio.” The name may not sound familiar, but the tune itself is something that many people know from the first few famous notes “Ba Ba Ba Bum.” A duet from Miranda Lorenzo and Delaney Spielman followed immediately after. The duet was a contemporary piece by M. Bukinik. The orchestra then played a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” The orchestra wrapped up their portion of the concert by playing “Carol of the bells” which put everyone into the christmas spirit.

After a brief intermission and stage set up, the band took the stage. Their first toon was a tribal and darker sounding piece. The song “Implacato” by Matt Conaway starts with the low reeds playing what sounds like a march, then becomes warlike with the clarinets and brass. Their next song was Johnnie Vinson’s “Armenian Rhapsody,” which was a filled with many soothing melodies and fast paced dance parts. The band wrapped things up by playing “Arrows” by Samuel R. Hazo. This song brought back some nostalgia for many seniors who played this song when they were freshman.

Things were wrapped up by what many students call “Carmichael’s child.” Jazz band always plays “Rock the House,” and they did not disappoint. They came out strong with “Night of the Mojito’ by Andrew Neu. The funky tune set the precedent for the next song, “Dat Dere” by Bobby Timmons and Erik Morales. The heavy tune of the brass was something to which it would have been difficult not to bob your head. Carmichael wrapped things up with a song called “Birdland” by Joe Zawinul and Victor Lopez. The song spent no time getting into rhythm, beginning with trombone, and then speeding up to a blistering pace. Things slow down a bit later into the song with some nice saxophone and trumpet parts.

Overall, the Winter concert was a success, and brought joy to the hearts of its audience. The players were talented, the music was purposeful, and the atmosphere was magical.