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HARRISON, N.Y. Harrison High School music students are ready to show off a years worth of hard work on Tuesday night at their annual spring concert, according to the school's band director.
Performing at the concert will be the high school band, chorus, string and percussion ensembles and dance group. Band director Ferdinand Pasqua said that with everything else the music department does, the work for this show begins in August.
There is a lot of discipline required, Pasqua said. It all culminates with the music you will hear at our spring concert.
The band will perform music they played during a recent trip to a festival in Chicago. Pasqua said that they will play a wide variety of music including a contemporary piece called George Washington Bridge and a southern arrangement titled Dixieland Jam which will feature a Dixieland band within the concert band.
The percussion ensemble will play a combination of original compositions plus pieces they performed in Chicago.
The biggest challenge is getting the kids focused, Pasqua said. Its difficult to get their attention for a concert after they performed recently in a festival. Whenever there is a major performance they get a release so we try to have them relax then peak again. Its a lot like a coach does when coaching a sport.
Now in his 22nd year at Harrison High School, Pasqua said he has seen the music department grow exponentially. During that time period, Pasqua said that the performances of music students have gotten better over the years.
Were playing quality, professional level music, Pasqua said. Its nice to hear students poor their hearts out on stage. There is nothing more exciting.
The concert will be held at the Harrison Performing Arts Center at Harrison High School at 7 p.m.
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