2024 Fall Program
- LEGACY
Six days after our 2023 season concluded, our long time drill designer, friend and colleague, Jeff Smith passed away in a car crash.
His impact on the profession, and more specifically our school, is immense.
His sudden absence has left a place for grief and healing.
This show is a nod to Jeff’s career as a teacher and a leader of so many.
Our show entitled Legacy is in six parts.
I. The Leader of the Band sets up the mood and is an homage from the band to Jeff with a student playing the role of Jeff (loosely).
II. Choose Joy is a sudden burst of energy as an opening musical statement from the band with the message that in this time of grief, Jeff would want us to “choose joy”. It also starts suddenly, a habit Jeff had when addressing a band in a quite startling way.
III. Yankee Doodle In 1990, Jeff took the Norwalk HS Band to the Rose Bowl Parade (the first band from Connecticut to participate). He arranged Yankee Doodle - the Connecticut State Song in honor of this. We are using a treatment of the melody in the style of Morton Gould. The middle portrays the actual parade route with the band marching by.
IV. Clarinet Concerto (Artie Shaw) is a nod to Jeff as an avid clarinet player, but also a jazz educator his entire life. This simple blues is a nod to this part of his career.
V. Time to Say Goodbye is our ballad treatment of the standard melody, with parts of Canterbury Chorale (Jeff’s favorite band piece) used as well. The melody is first presented in our clarinet section and then performed by the entire band as one clarinet section!
VI. A Recap of Choose Joy - This signifies that Jeff would want us to move on, choose to be joyful, and for each student to work hard to create their own legacy.
Musical Selections
The Leader of the Band
Choose Joy (Standridge)
Yankee Doodle
Clarinet Concerto (Shaw)
Time to Say Goodbye / Canterbury Chorale
Choose Joy (Recap)
- Director(s)
- Kyle Smth (Director), Joey Hendricks (Assistant Director), Jess Krupnek (Staff Member)
- Drum Major(s)
- Jaslyn Alcide (Jazzy) (Drum Major)
- Design Staff – Music
- Terry White (Music Arranger)
- Design Staff – Visual
- Steve Lyons (Drill Designer)
- Design Staff – Percussion
- John O'Hara (Front Ensemble Designer), Kyle Wursthorne (Battery Designer), Gabe Hirst (Battery Designer)
- Design Staff – Auxiliary
- Janaye Holt (Color Guard Designer), Yovana Karakitukova (Color Guard Designer), Leah Driesen (Color Guard Designer)
- Instructional Staff – Music
- Joey Hendricks (Band Staff), Missy Shabo (Band Staff), Adam Newton (Band Staff)
- Instructional Staff – Visual
- Joey Hendricks (Band Staff), Missy Shabo (Band Staff), Jess Krupnek (Band Staff), Krystle Smith (Band Staff)
- Instructional Staff – Percussion
- John O'Hara (Front Ensemble Director), Jess Newton (Front Ensemble Instructor), Kyle Wursthorne (Battery Instructor), Gabe Hirst (Battery Instructor)
- Instructional Staff – Auxiliary
- Janaye Holt (Color Guard Director), Yovana Karakitukova (Color Guard Assistant), Leah Driesen (Color Guard Assistant), Lucas Benedict (Color Guard Assistant)
