North Hills Students to Celebrate Music, Drama with Series of Performances

The musical and theatrical ensembles in the North Hills School District will celebrate the nationally recognized “Music in our Schools Month” with a series of concerts and performances that showcase the elementary through high school programs.

The month kicks off Wednesday, Feb. 29, featuring the 4th through 12th grade choral ensembles in a concert with the theme “Songs of the Stage: Celebrating the Music of Broadway Throughout the Ages.” Members of the Children’s Choir, 7th Grade Chorus, 8th Grade Chorus, Junior High Concert Choir, High School Symphonic Choir, and North Hills Singers ensembles will present songs from Broadway musicals, ranging from “Cabaret” and “The Sound of Music” to “Rent” and “Wicked.”

Tuesday, March 6, features the Elementary Strings, Junior High Orchestra and Senior High Orchestra in “Orchestra Night.”  In addition to their classical repertoire, the orchestras will perform music from the “World of Warcraft” video game and the Led Zepplin hit “Stairway to Heaven.” The evening concludes with every student in the orchestra program performing Offenbach's “Can Can” together.

The annual Band-O-Rama is set for Thursday, March 8, and features band students in grades 7 through 12, including performances from the Beginning Band, Cadet Band, Varsity Band, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band. The Concert Band will perform selections from its upcoming feature performance at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association All-State Convention in April, and the high school bands will perform a "Chicago Preview" as they highlight their competition pieces from their St. Patrick's Day weekend performance in the Windy City.

Rounding out the month on Wednesday, March 28 is the Elementary Bands Spring Concert, which features students from all four elementary schools in grades 4–6.

All of the MIOSM concerts are free and open to the public, and begin at 7 p.m. in the junior high auditorium, located at 55 Rochester Road.

March also includes the following ticketed event:

The North Hills High School Drama Club presents its annual spring musical, “My Fair Lady,” March 22–24 and March 29–31. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. in the senior high auditorium.  Ticket information will be available at a later date.

A chance meeting between two noted British linguists, Prof. Henry Higgins and Col. Hugh Pickering, leads to a wager that Higgins can transform unrefined, dirty Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a lady, and fool everyone into thinking she really is one, too! He does, and young aristocrat Freddy Eynsford-Hill falls madly in love with her. But when Higgins takes all the credit and forgets to acknowledge her efforts, Eliza angrily leaves him for Freddy, and suddenly Higgins realizes he's grown accustomed to her face and can't really live without it. 

March has been officially designated by the National Association for Music Education for the observance of Music In Our Schools Month, the time of year when music education becomes the focus of schools across the nation. MIOSM began as a single statewide celebration in 1973, and has grown over the decades to encompass a day, then a week, and then in 1985 to become a monthlong celebration of school music. The purpose of MIOSM is to raise awareness of the importance of music education for all children – and to remind citizens that school is where all children should have access to music. MIOSM is an opportunity for music teachers to bring their music programs to the attention of the school and the community and to display the benefits school music brings to students of all ages. 

- Submitted by Tina Vojtko, on behalf of the NHSD. Have news you'd like to share with Patch readers? Email information and photos to Editor AmyJo Brown at amyjo.brown@patch.com.

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