Elmore Stoutt High School students aren’t old enough to party at many nightclubs, but that didn’t stop them from dancing as their Spring Concert concluded on Saturday at the Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall.
The band was among several groups to perform in the annual concert, which also included the school’s Junior and Senior Steel bands, the Junior and Senior Concert bands, the Jazz bands and the choir.
“All I’m asking is for a little respect when you come home,” Maya Brown sang during a performance of Aretha Franklin’s hit. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Find out what it means to me!”
For the first time, the concert also included an art show at the back of the hall.
Spirituals
Though Phoenix Reloaded brought down the curtain on a high note, the choir was also a crowd favourite.
The group of about 35 students sang mainly traditional spirituals, including J. Rosamond Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice.”
Margi Webb-Headley, head of the school’s music department, was pleased with the event.
Preparing for the night, however, was “a lot of work,” said Ms. Webb-Headley, who also directs the choir.
“Apart from the teachers that directed the bands, other individual instrument teachers worked with the students,” she said. “They spent a lot of time, including their breaks and even after-school hours, with the students.”
As for the choir, each year Ms. Webb-Headley introduces them to different genres, she said.
“Especially this time of the year, I try to do something to honour the black ancestors,” she said. “So I try to do some Negro spirituals and gospel. They need to know where they come from.”
Dance group
Another addition to this year’s concert was a dance performance by some of the school’s fifth form students.
Felix Wollard was among them.
“Preparing for my dance was the craziest experience,” he said after the show. “Until Friday night, we hadn’t finalised the dances.”
Saturday was the first time the ESHS senior attended a school concert, he said.
“It’s my first and last concert, and being my first and my last I’m so hyped and grateful that they let me perform,” he added.
Davina Glanford, whose two children performed on Saturday, said the show gets better each year.
“I enjoyed everything tonight,” she said. “It gets creative each year, and the children are doing quite well.”
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