Hillside declares devotion to music

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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter

Grandparents, parents, and siblings shuffled into Hillside Elementary School’s auditorium on January 11, quickly finding seats and waving to the familiar faces that joined them in the audience. But as munchkin-sized students filed onto the stage with their instruments, the audience fell silent, ready to enjoy and record the Hillside winter concert.

With their violins, violas, and cellos in hand, Hillside Elementary School’s advanced strings players readied themselves to begin the first song of their orchestra performance. Having begun learning their instruments in fourth grade, the fifth grade musicians were confident in their abilities to perform in front of their loved ones.

On string director Sarah Casados’s signal, the string players began a holiday and winter themed performance of “Jingle Bells” and “Dreidel.” The audience commended the young musicians with wild applause and cheers.

The advanced string players, which included members of the honors strings group, finished their performance with Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” before introducing director Lynne Doran and the band.

Although the band only performed two songs, their skill and passion for music wowed the audience. The sounds of flutes, clarinets, alto saxophones, tenor saxophones, trumpets, a trombone, and percussion filled the room as they performed “Sawmill Creek” and “North Country Celebration.”

Only Hillside Elementary students play in the advanced band, but many of them belonged to the highly selective honors band, which is comprised of band students from all of Needham’s elementary schools.

The fifth grade chorus, also directed by Lynne Doran, performed at the winter concert. As they stepped onto the risers at the front of the auditorium, Doran explained that all of the songs for the chorus’s performance were songs from African-Americans to emphasize the importance that African-Americans had on the evolution of a variety of music genres.

For their first song, they sang “Great Mornin’, Great Day,” a traditional spiritual. Continuing with their performance, the children sang “Little Light Shine” and the emotional “We Will Live in Peace.” The chorus finished the concert with “Always Sing Your Song,” which was responded with supportive applause and hurrahs from the audience.

With such talent spread throughout the three different performances, Hillside Elementary families were thoroughly impressed with the winter concert.