What a treat it was to drive up to Carson City from Minden on March 26. The snow had cleared, the sun was shining brilliantly, Highway 395 was perfect and the Capital City Community Band under the astute direction of maestro Nick Jacques was performing with Carson City High School musicians. The soul lifts when listening to music and stimulates the mind.
Presented in the beautiful Carson City Community Center Auditorium, the community band and participating young musicians opened with Joseph Wilcox Jenkin's American Overture for Band followed by Carson High School's own special award-winning clarinet choir with Raynell Heaton conducting Andrew Lloyd Webber's well-known Music of the Night. Young, performing clarinetists included Amelia Aragon, Alex Brady, Christian Galvez Hernandez, Dom Gambol, Pablo Salgado, and Kevin Segura. Children who participate and learn to play an instrument garner not only self-discipline, but they have a deep appreciation for the arts and gain much happiness from within and passing this contentment to others.
High school senior Jake Xie performed the difficult Fantasia for alto saxophone by composer Claude T. Smith before a much-appreciated audience. Xie's grace, musical knowledge and proficiency were quite evident as he had begun developing this deep appreciation for music in middle school. Applause was profuse. The young performer has a very bright future.
After a brief intermission and reorganizing on stage, the high school's prestigious and well-defined winter drumline composed of young, accomplished musicians came on strong with a delightful rendition of Rapsody in Blue directed by Margie McWilliams.
Exhibiting beauty and confidence, the Killer Tango Brass Quintet plus-one with members Chase Boholst, Zach Carpenter, Jacob Kennedy, Kevin Segura, Nathan Torres, and Jaden Wright performed with masterful expertise delivering a fast-paced piece by composer Sonny Kompanek entitled Killer Tango.
When high school senior and multi-talented musician Jonah Toral came on stage to perform Rain Dance, it was evident that the performing arts in Carson High School proffer a very strong musical education curriculum under Jacques. Toral’s interpretation of the piece was highly fluid with each movement of his body and musical note.
It was pure pleasure to witness when Capital City Community Band first clarinetist John Ruby named young Toral the recipient of the 2023 annual scholarship given to a graduating senior stating that, "Jonah is the best of humanity."