Although High School South’s orchestra has its annual children’s concert on Sunday, December 11, it will be a little different this year. The students are just returning from Hawaii where they performed at the 70th anniversary celebration of the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. The concert benefits the tour fund.
The trip was different in many ways and the orchestra had to prepare around the December 7 date. “I arranged all the music for the tour, as well as the music for the String Ensemble who did not attend the tour, but were our guests for the Aloha Farewell Concert on November 17,” says Jean Mauro, director of the orchestras. “The choice of the music was important — it was all written before the 1941 date. We performed military songs, patriotic songs, and music that would have been played at a jazz band concert the evening before the bombing. None of this is written for strings, so I had to re-write all that music.”
In Hawaii they performed Richard Rogers “Victory at Sea,” Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” and a rendition of the “Navy Hymn and Fight Song,” Israel Kamakawiwo’olde’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World,” and Wilhousky’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
The organization also performed “String of Pearls,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and “God Bless the Child” in memory of the jazz band musicians who died during the attack.
The group departed on Saturday, November 19, and traveled throughout Hawaii during the Thanksgiving holiday week to see historical and cultural sights. They were the first large group to perform at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park’s newly constructed performance area.
“This is the first trip that did not include the winds and percussion, who will be taking their own trip later in the year,” says Mauro. “They are a very important part of our program, and we missed them terribly.”
As part of the performance and visit to the memorial, the WW-P students presented a wreath in honor of those still entombed in the water below. They received the flag that flew over the memorial the day of the their performance.
The orchestra has performed throughout the United States and Europe including Austria, Russia, Scotland, Carnegie Hall, the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, and the Trenton War Memorial. They were invited to perform in Hawaii by David Lopaka Millwood, president of Hawaii State Tours, who wrote “We recognize your tradition of performance excellence and would like to see if your musical ensemble would be interested in considering an invitation to join us.”
Jean Mauro, director of orchestras at High School South since 1978, has been behind the orchestra receiving five gold medals in international music festival competitions. A graduate of University of Iowa, she received a master’s degree in conducting at Trenton State College (now College of New Jersey), Her three grown children are Gabriella, an interior design architect; Eric, a salesperson of medical supplies; and Alexander, who recently returned from Iraq as a transmission specialist with the Marines.
“I was so proud of all the students,” says Mauro. “They performed magnificently, and conducted themselves like true ladies and gentlemen on the trip. They represented the school, the state, and the east coast admirably.”
The children’s concert is “Space” themed and the String Ensemble (freshman musicians), Camerata, and Philharmonia orchestras perform music from “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” as well as “Jupiter” and “Mars” from “The Planets” by Gustav Holst. A few orchestra members will be acting out the storyline of a lost astronaut trying to find his way back home. Children can take photos with the actors in front of space related backdrops after the concert.
“There will be visits by astronaut Neil Armstrong, as well as Luke Skywalker, Darth Vadar, Captain Kirk, and Spock,” says Mauro. “Children can include those who are young at heart from the ages of 0-92, but anyone who is older is invited to attend as well.”
Orchestra Children’s Concert, High School South, 346 Clarksville Road, West Windsor. Friday, December 9, 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. “Space,” a concert featuring music from Star Wars, Star Trek, Jupiter and Mars from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” and more. Orchestra members will act out storyline while the String Ensemble, Camerata, and Philarmonia Orchestras perform. Photos invited. Benefit for the Hawaii tour taken by the Camerata and Philharmonia orchestras. $8. 609-936-1999. www.ww-p.org.
