Northside Schools: Big Concert Reflects Pride and Focus on Arts
The 2nd annual Northside Vocal Music Concert included a surprise announcement that more northside schools will be participating in the national Turnaround Arts program.
Maybe you thought spirits were low on the Northside after the North Polar Boys’ loss in the basketball sub-state semifinals ended an inspiring season sooner than everyone hoped. But spirits in that part of town have never been higher and are still climbing. That point came through loud and clear last night at the 2nd annual Northside Night in the overflowing auditorium at North High School.
Choirs from six schools that comprise the North feeder pattern took turns giving voice to the hopes and dreams of a community before they all joined together in a powerful unison that closed the show.
As was the case last year in the inaugural event, the crowd bubbled up into the balcony after the spacious main floor was quickly filled to the point of SRO along the wings. Heck, most of the concessions were sold out 15 minutes before showtime!
DMPS Superintendent Tom Ahart took the opportunity of his opening remarks to make two key points: First, he remains a proud Northsider himself (not to mention a former principal at Harding Middle School, one of the contributors to the concert).
And second (drumroll please) he announced that the same Turnaround Arts grant from the federal government that has made such an impact at Findley Elementary School the past couple of years has now been approved for the rest of the North feeder schools: Cattell, Madison, and Oak Park elementary schools as well as Harding. Turnaround Arts is a public-private partnership administered by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities that supports ways to narrow the academic achievement gap and improve student engagement through the arts.
And with that it was on with the show!
After the bigger kids got things rolling the 5th graders from Findley did a snappy little cross-curricular number called Fifty Nifty United States, by Ray Charles, according to the program. They sang their way through them all, from Alabama to Wyoming, never skipping a beat or a state.
The Singing Lions from Madison offered Cumbia del Sol, a Colombian tune complete with congas that made it hard to sit still and there were some preschoolers dancing in the aisles by then.
North’s concert choir brought the crowd to fever pitch with Shut de Do followed by the Oak Park chorus with a moving arrangement of Amazing Grace.
Cattell chimed in enthusiastically with George M. Cohan’s You’re a Grand Old Flag. Folks, there was even one voice in the Cattell ranks named America Munguia. Perfect – E Pluribus Unum, indeed. In fact, the choral rosters were dotted with names including Angel, Miracle, Destiny, Faith, McGregor, Rodriguez, Jose, Xayavong and Muhammad, all singing together with one voice. The feeling was palpable in the crowd that we’re all in this together.
The show culminated with all of the choirs singing Stand Together and I Can (the Northside anthem). Let’s just say both were very convincing.
North’s Vocal Music Director, Vanessa Brady, would have been worth the price of admission if there’d been one, just to see her conducting her singers. Watching her and her counterparts from the feeder schools (Amanda Stevenson; Harding, Nels Dovre; Madison, Jane Olson; Findley, Dustin Harmsen; Oak Park and Stephanie Hein; Cattell) was like watching six maestros hard at work on labors of love.
March is Music in our Schools Month as designated by the National Association for Music Education. There’s already plenty in the six that collaborated last night at North and, given Superintendent Ahart’s announcement that opened the show, it sounds like there’s lots more to come.
