On December 11, 2024 in Lafayette’s gymnasium, Lafayette hosted the annual area-wide concert. The concert featured students grades 5th-12th from various schools throughout the area that feed into Lafayette. These schools included Picadome Elementary School, Clays Mill Elementary School, Stonewall Elementary School, Wellington Elementary School, SCAPA (School for the Creative and Performing Arts), Jessie Clark Middle School, and Lafayette High School.
The concert was opened with a performance by the Lafayette Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dr. Chris Strange. They performed an arrangement of “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder.
Following the Jazz Ensemble’s performance, the Elementary Beginning Band, composed of all the different elementary schools listed above, performed the “Beginning Band Medley” and various holiday tunes.
After the elementary students performed, Jessie Clark Middle School’s 6th. grade band opened the middle school portion of the concert, with various arrangements including “March Grandioso” and “Let it Snow”, both written by Robert W. Smith. From there on, Jessie Clark’s Concert Band and Symphonic Band took the stage, with the Concert Band performing “Astron” by David Shaffer, and “Holiday Fantasy” arranged by John O’Reilly. Concluding the Middle Schools’ portion of the Concert, SCAPA’s Middle School Band performed “Flourishing Noels” by Trav J. Weller, and “Highlights from Frozen” arranged by Sean O’Laughlin.
Opening one of the final portions of the concert, Lafayette’s various high school bands each performed a holiday tune. The Concert Band performed an arrangement by Mark Williams titled “Santa of Seville.” Following the Concert Band, Lafayette’s Symphonic Band performed “Snow Day Celebration” by Alan Stein. Lafayette’s Wind Symphony concluded the High School Band portion of the concert, performing the Holiday classic, “Sleigh Ride,” written by Leroy Anderson.
The concert concluded with an “Ode to Joy” arrangement by Robert Longfield, played by every student performing in the gymnasium. This conclusion of the concert is performed annually at every Lafayette Area Concert and is truly a very special moment.
This concert is always such a fun experience that people in the Lafayette community look forward to every year. Sophomore Ava Whipple, who performed in the Symphonic Band at Lafayette, states that the area concert is something that “people in the community love to attend every December and look forward to year-round.” Stay tuned in to the Lafayette Times for the Lafayette Band’s various concerts and performances throughout the remainder of the school year.
