Every year, the music department hosts an end of the year concert to show people how they improved and to show off their talents. Instrumental will host their concert May 5 and Choral will perform May 13. Both concerts will be held at G.L Johnson Chapel at 7 p.m.

The instrumental department consists of elementary band, jazz band, and percussion and choral contains jr. high choir, high school choir, the Kingsmen Quartet and Adoration Ensemble.

Music director Michael Ogdon has been preparing the students for this concert since the beginning of the year. He has been observing the students on how they have grown musically and spiritually throughout the course of the year.

“I’m looking forward to getting a chance to share what they {students} have been working on all year and to participate together as a department,” Ogdon said. “As a director, I have seen a lot of students improve, but frankly, the most improved group of the entire spectrum that we have is the elementary band because they were remarkable this year and that hasn’t always been the case. I’m proud of them, and I’m excited to see how far they will continue to stretch and grow through the years to come.”

Ogdon has been working hard to make students grow spiritually in music. Some of the select songs passionated him to the point where he wanted to use the songs to direct his students toward the gospel.

“My favorite song is ‘All His Benefits’ and it will always be my favorite song because I like the text {lyrics}, the music and what it means to me,” Ogdon said. “It really points out to Psalm 103 and I love that chapter in the Bible.”

One of the students that is performing at the instrumental concert, Trevor Trevino, ’17, is excited to perform for the people that will attend. He has been practicing his music for a long time and cannot wait to perform for the people attending.

“Some of the types and styles of music that Mr. Ogdon provides for us really interested me and that is what I improved on since the beginning of the year,” Trevino said. “My favorite song overall is ‘Mozambique’ because I like the African style in that song.

A few students have both instrumental and choral talents, such as Andrew Guthrie, ’15. He enjoys playing in front of an audience and looks forward to his upcoming productions.

“I am looking forward to performing all my pieces for everyone to see,” Guthrie said. “My favorite song would be ‘Bari Bari Good’ because I play the bari sax in jazz band and the song is about how the bari sax sounds and I just love everything about the song.”

Senior Natalie Ruiz looks forward to having fun and singing the songs she has been working on for so long. Her favorite song is attributed to Ogdon’s passion for the lyrics.

“My favorite song would be ‘All His Benefits’ because Mr. Ogdon is really passionate about that song due to its lyrics,” Ruiz said. “The lyrics of that song comes from Psalm 103 and it brought a new meaning to me because it meant a lot to Mr. Ogdon.”

One of the students in ensemble, Adam Loughney, ’14, has been working hard on his piece in the performance. Every day, with the help of Ogdon, he has been building his confidence as the day of concerts comes closer.

“In the beginning, I was really nervous and I didn’t sing loud enough,” Loughney said. “But now that Mr. Ogdon has helped me, I have become more confident and now I really fit in. My favorite song would be ‘Low Down the Chariots.'”

Summer Villanueba, ’15, has been in ensemble since her sophomore year and has loved every minute. She loves the time spent bonding with her fellow classmates and the relationships she has formed.

“I haven’t really improved much,” Villanueba said. “I just immediately started bonding with my friends once I started in the beginning of the year. Overall, my favorite song would be ‘Nigra Sum,’ because I love the feels in the music.”

Colin Winegarden, ’15, has been working hard, along with the rest of the choir, so he can prepare to show people how much they have improved. He thinks he has done better overall due to more practice and rehearsal.

“I’m mostly striving into finishing well,” Winegarden said. “I feel like I’ve practiced more this year and I think I’ve improved more that way.”

For some students, like Suzy Carroll, ’14, it is their last major musical performance in their high school career. However, she has had fun playing lead alto sax in jazz band.

“I’ll certainly miss the band,” Carroll said. “I felt confident when I was chosen to be the lead alto sax player, but I’m still not used to it because in regular concert bands people don’t really pay attention to the saxophone section, which causes me to play softer.On one of the songs, ‘Bari Bari Good,’ I got chosen to not play the lead alto sax part because I will be graduating in a few weeks and my partner, who also plays the alto sax, has to practice playing the lead part for next year.”

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @mattgarza2017. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.

For more features, read the April 29 article, Misleading nutrition labels prompt changes.