Nor'easter didn't stop Festival Concert

Ron Lamoureux, the veteran chairman of Johnston High School’s national award-winning music department, was elated the state’s meteorologist were wrong about last week’s expected fourth nor’easter of March that took a curve sharper than Pedro Martinez’s classic pitch.

“Whew!” Lamoureux sighed prior to the curtain going up before last Thursday’s festival concert. “We are going to get this in!”

Lamoureux was worried, as were students who make up the choral groups and band, that the nor’easter would strike and ruin the limited rehearsals that had previously been postponed because of snow.

However, the show did go on and was yet another sterling success, replete with a great audience response from a larger than usual crowd that filled much of the JHS auditorium.

The JHS Concert Chorus and Select Choir were featured in part one of the show and as Lamoureux, who had been involved in high school music for many years, assessed “sounder better than ever. The chorus has never sounded so mature and dynamic much to the credit of Mr. [Matt] Gingras.”

As for the Lamoureux directed band, which again sounded special during part two of the Festival Concert, he said, “the band put forward some big sounds in the Copland Tribute and The Firebird. The group sounded super.”

Last Thursday’s concert also featured a new twist; there was no admission for high school students and that worked to perfection, the veteran JHS band leader explained.

“We’d like our musicians to have the support of their friends and tonight we had more kids than usual and we are hoping to build on it,” Lamoureux said. “We were very, very happy with every aspect of this concert.”

Likewise, a number of the JHS musicians went from the concert to the rehearsals halls last Friday in preparation for the Rhode Island Music Education Association All-State Festival which was held last weekend and featured students that were accepted into the ensembles after their November auditions and they rehearsed all day Friday and Saturday.

Sunday, the All-State Bands, Orchestras and choruses all performed in a series of three concerts that started at 11 in the morning and didn’t finish until 9 o’clock in the evening.

Yet, JHS musicians shined in all three events.

Benjamin Budway and Ian Quinton Banno were both Section Leaders in the Senior Orchestra, Budway on clarinet and Banno on string base.

Three Ferri Middle School musicians – Victor Fragoso, Aidan McCrillis and Matthew Leddy – were in the Junior Band with JHS tuba player Justin Salvatore and Lizmar Torres played clarinet in the Senior Band.

Victoria MacKay, a freshman at JHS, participated in the Junior Treble Chorus with Ferri’s Ayomide Olagundoye and Ferri’s Maija Spence was part of the Junior Mixed Chorus.

Four prolific Panthers – Abigail Heiser, Madison Paolucci, Lauren Papa and Isabella Parrillo – were members of the Senior Chorus while Emily Gaye and Matthew Eisemann sang in the Senior Mixed Chorus.