Fairfield High School students performing spring concert

Fairfield High School will present a spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Fairfield High School Auditorium.

The concert will feature music prepared by the bands and choirs for competition at the Iowa State Large Group Contest held today.

The concert will begin with the Ninth-Grade Concert Band, directed by Aaron Adam, performing four pieces. ?Military Escort? is a march written by Harold Bennett. ?Pevensey Castle? is a programmatic piece about an old castle in England. ?Moscow, 1941? is a piece that uses Russian melodies to depict the desperate times in Russia at the beginning of World War II. The last piece by the ninth-grade group is a programmatic piece depicting the Western legend ?Ghost Riders.?

The next group to perform will be the 10th- through 12th-grade concert band, directed by Jim Edgeton. The group will play three selections, and two soloists will be featured. The first piece is a Karl King march titled ?Prestissimo.? The second selection is a beautifully written arrangement of ?Amazing Grace.? The last selection is a flashy original composition titled ?Where Eagles Soar.? Senior Kahlise Rotondi, 2010 All-State Band member, will perform a flute solo entitled ?Andante and Scherzo.? Senior Lauren Holt, a three-time All-State Band member, will perform a violin solo called ?Hot Canary.?

The Fairfield Brass and Electric Jazz Band will perform two selections. ?Blues in the Night? is a sultry arrangement from the 1940s era. Soloist on the piece is senior pianist Elizabeth Hamilton. ?Zoot Suit Riot? is an up-to-date remake of another 1940s original. Soloist on the piece is senior tenor saxophonist Tyler VanderGaast.

Freshmen Ensemble, a vocal group directed by Connie Keller, will perform ?Voyage? and ?Inscription of Hope.?

The Women?s Choir, directed by Zach Reiter, will perform Eric Whitacre?s ?The Seal of Hope? and Joseph Martin?s ?Brush Strokes.? The Men?s Choir, also directed by Reiter, will follow with Howard Helvey?s ?O Lux Beatissima? and another Martin piece, ?The Awakening.?

The concert will finish with the Chamber Choir, directed by Reiter, singing ?Musicks Empire,? ?Bogoroditse Devo? and the spiritual ?Ain?t Got Time to Die.?

All senior band and choir members will be introduced during the concert. Parents, family and friends are invited to help celebrate the high level of musical achievement the students have reached.