By Claire Fagan, staff writer
On Saturday, October 30 the RHHS music department performed the RHHS Prism Concert. Both music students as well as teachers worked diligently to ensure it was entertaining and engaging.
Junior Grace Huang from the String Ensemble emphasized that performers need to “know where [they] have to be. It’s a nonstop concert, everything’s back-to-back. We start when the curtain opens, so we have to watch for that.” She believes this is key for performers to ensure that the Prism Concert runs smoothly.
The Prism Concert is an annual tradition at River Hill where groups from each music department—band, choir, guitar, orchestra, and piano—perform. There’s only one catch—the music is continuous. Every song is immediately followed by another performance, and the audience is only given time to applaud at the end of the concert as all of the students flood onstage. The goal of this concert is to show off River Hill’s talent and amaze the audience.
Each group has been preparing extensively for the concert. Sophomore Grace Leska from Treble Choir mentioned, “Focusing [and] staying on task has been really important. Everybody’s putting in their best effort, keeping a positive attitude, and helping each other get better with each practice.” Choir students are memorizing their music to allow easier transitions within the concert.
Additionally, many of the performances are detailed and complex and incorporate different elements to make them more interesting and engaging.. Grace Huang added, “We’ve been rehearsing with the other people playing with us—we have someone on the piano, someone on the drums, and someone on the bass guitar.”
Many band members are challenged with playing in an ensemble and marching band. Junior Preston Passamonti from Symphonic Band described, “It’s been a bit tough balancing marching band and drills with our inside concert practicing, but we’ve been handling it well.” For the Prism Concert, the marching band served as the epic finale, with band students marching through the auditorium aisles.
The Prism concert is always a time to spread joy among the community, but this concert was even more special because it was the music program’s first in-person concert in two years. This year, the concert’s theme was “Stay Strong and Hawk On.” River Hill music departments came together to prove that our school is stronger than ever after the pandemic as all of the students involved put in all of their energy to ensure that every piece of music was beautiful.