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To all my students and their families – thank you so much!!!  This community, with its love of music and dedication to excellence, inspires me every single day.

Lena, a third grader from Danvers, will perform Donkey Paws by Charlie Pennel. Did you know that if you cross a donkey with a zebra, you get an animal called a zebroid, zonkey or zeedonk?  Another fun donkey fact:  They love music!  Donkey’s often form strong, protective bonds with individual humans and express their affection in many ways including listening intently, snuggling, or even singing along when their human plays a musical instrument.

Lena’s performance includes her own improvised solo.

Duncan, a third grader from Brookline, will perform an arrangement of Kangding Love Song, one of China’s most popular and beloved melodies. Portraying life and love in Kangding, a city in the province of Sichuan, Kangding Love Song has been recorded by, among many others, the Italian tenor, Placido Domingo; featured in an episode of Marvel’s Daredevil TV series; and recognized by UNESCO as one of the top ten folk songs in the world!

Jack Mintzer-Goldberg

Jack, a third grader from Jamaica Plain, will perform Just Before When. Did you ever wonder when, exactly, just before when might be? Well, here’s the skinny according to the Cambridge English Dictionary.

Just Before When “takes place now, or very soon, unless of course, it happened in the past, during which time, even though nothing has happened until recently, and notwithstanding the fact that nothing can happen until an earlier time, or, alternatively, a time during which the thing mentioned has almost, or perhaps almost not, then, simply, and completely and fairly, taken place.”

Emily, a fourth grader from Jamaica Plain, will perform an arrangement of High Green Mountain, written by Yu-ping Deng and Lan-Ping Jou. High Green Mountain is the musical inspiration for a popular Taiwanese folk dance of the same name. This haunting tune celebrates the strength and beauty of the original peoples of Mt Ali, the Tzou.

Molly, a sixth Grader from Brookline, will perform Bottle Rockets, by Charlie Pennel. There are two kinds of bottle rockets.  One is an inexpensive skyrocket once favored by backyard fireworks enthusiasts. These days, however, as Wikipedia dryly notes, “Bottle rockets are specifically illegal in many jurisdictions, even those where most other consumer fireworks are legal. They are sometimes considered to present a unique hazard, due to their ability to fly in many directions other than vertically. (Emphasis mine.)

Fortunately, there are now do-it-yourself science projects that provide a safer alternative for folks who enjoy launching stuff skyward!  These bottle rockets are kid-friendly, actually involve a bottle, and are powered, not by explosives, but by pressurized… air.  According to most instructions however, safety glasses are advised.

Molly’s performance includes her own (explosive!) improvised solo.

Amiya Smith

Amiya, a sophomore from Newton, will perform Breathe (2 AM) by Anna Nalick.  Breathe was Nalick’s breakout single from her 2005 album, Wreck of the Day, and was written when she was just seventeen years old! In an interview with Billboard Magazine Nalick remarked that, “Thinking back on having written my first album in class in high school: things like that make me laugh all the time.”  In this afternoon’s performance, Amiya’s original arrangement for piano and voice illuminates the song’s poignant reminder to “just breathe” in the face of regret or misfortune.

Eli, a sophomore from Bow, New Hampshire, will be performing his own arrangement of The Room Where It Happens, from the musical, Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda.  The Room Where It Happens, is a jazzy, ensemble showstopper that dramatizes a closed-door meeting between Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.  Over dinner, a deal is cut between the three men that establishes the nation’s new capital, not in New York, but along the shores of the Potomac River in Maryland.  In exchange, Jefferson and Madison promise to give Hamilton the political backing he needs to establish the country’s first national bank. Upon learning of the meeting, an outraged and envious, Senator Aaron Burr, confronts Hamilton and in the process reveals his own overarching desire for personal and political power.  Burr’s desire to be, above all, “in the room where it happens” propels the story to its tragic conclusion. Eli’s piano arrangement captures the high spirit and dramatic energy of the original cast recording.

Felix, a junior from Cambridge, will perform Vals Poetico No.6 in F# Minor by Enrique Granados. Granados (1867-1916) was a prolific composer, pianist, and educator who, like other 19th century “nationalist” composers such as Edward Grieg of Norway and Bella Bartok of Hungary, took a keen interest in the traditional music of his native country, Spain.  His compositions reflect this influence, and, in his work as a teacher, he helped create a tradition of Spanish influenced classical composition.  The Valses Poeticos were first published as a set of eight waltzes, including the charming Vals Poetico No. 6 in F# Minor. Granados’ poetic vision is reveled in Felix’s thoughtful and heartfelt performance.

Following the Vals Poetico, Felix will perform Everything Happens to Me by Tom Adair and Matt Dennis. Everything Happens to Me, a lighthearted lament about being unlucky in love, was first introduced to the public by a young Frank Sinatra during his time with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Recorded by, among many others, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald, Everything Happens to Me was also featured in the 2019 film, A Rainy Day in New York, in a performance by Timothee Chalamet. Felix’s arrangement highlights the song’s beguiling mix of lyrical whimsy and harmonic inventiveness.

Felix’s performance includes his own improvised solo.

Emma Farrer

Emma, a senior from Newton, will be singing and playing Bluebird by Sara Bareilles. Bluebird, from the 2010 album Kaleidoscope Heart, tackles a complex subject; how, and when, to end a relationship once you‘ve realized it’s time to move on.  Emma’s soaring rendition of Bareilles’s bittersweet ode to love and disillusionment evokes the hopes and fears that arise when it’s time to spread your wings and fly.

CC Chung

Our last performer this afternoon is CC, a senior from Cambridge who’ll be playing Salut d’amour by the British composer, Edward Elgar followed by To Making Noise by the Irish singer and songwriter, Hozier. 

Salut d’amour, (its original title, in German, was Liebesgruss, or “Love's Greeting”) was composed in 1888 as a love letter from Elgar to his soon to be wife, Caroline.  Liebesgruss sold poorly in its first edition which prompted Elgar’s publisher, Schott & Co., to reissue the work with the title translated to the French.  The change of languages did the trick and Salut d’amour went on to became one of Elgar’s most popular pieces, second in renown only to “the graduation song” or, as it is officially known, Pomp and Circumstance, March No. 1 in D Major.

CC’s eloquent and assured performance of Salut d’amour brings to life the tremendous passion that Elgar’s musical love letter evokes.

Following Salut D’amour, CC will play and sing her own dynamic arrangement of To Making Noise (Sing) by Hozier. Born, Andrew John Hozier-Byrne in County Wicklow, Ireland, Hozier’s To Making Noise, from his second album, Wasteland Baby, is a jubilant, gospel inspired ode to the power of singing.  As he writes in To Making Noise, “You don’t have to sing it nice, but honey sing it strong/At best, you’ll find a little remedy/At worst, the world will sing along”.