GW’s Band and Bucket Drumming Holiday Concert

Nikhil Ivaturi

On Tuesday December 14th, at 6:30 PM, GW’s band and bucket drumming club performed in the auditorium for the annual holiday concert. Due to COVID-19, the audience was limited to no more than two guests per student. This was unlike previous years, but the production ultimately was a success. 

Mr. Vigiletti, the director, came up and addressed the audience. First to play were the flute and clarinet features. Then came the saxophone, brass, and percussion features. They played holiday songs such as “The Dreidel Song,” “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” and “Jolly Old St. Nick.” 

After this, the 7th and 8th grade students performed. They played “Dancing Lights,” “French Caroler’s Dance,” and “Snow Child.” The next song “Festive Flourish” was a band and audience favorite. They finished their performance with “Jingle Bellz” which was a modified version of the classic Christmas favorite. 

After the band’s performance ended, the bucket drumming club played. Also led by Mr. Vigiletti, they began with a percussion piece called “Tubz.” It focused primarily on rhythm and there was no background music. Their second performance was a mashup of the songs “Bang!” and “Way Less Sad,” both by AJR. It was adapted for buckets and had a glow in the dark theme. The bucket drumming club performed with drumsticks that lit up in the dark and the lights were turned off in the auditorium. 

This year’s holiday concert was definitely different from previous years. When asked about how the concert went, here’s what Princey Rech (8th grade), a student from the percussion section, had to say:

 

Do you think the concert went well?

“I think the concert went relatively well. There was some room for improvement, as there always will be, but overall it went quite nice.”

On a scale of 1-10, rate how much effort you and the others in the band put in to make this concert happen.

“I would say about a 7. With COVID, it was a bit harder to put in my all, but there wasn’t much more that we could have done.”

 

Does this year’s concert feel different compared to past years, especially with COVID?

 

“To be honest, it doesn’t feel all that different than last year since the past few years have also included COVID”

 

Overall, this year’s holiday concert wasn’t the same compared to other years. Masks were used and social distancing was practiced. The audience was also limited. However, the entire GW band and the bucket drumming club put in a lot of effort to ensure that the concert was a success and everyone stayed safe.