The Tri-M Scholarship Concert

Emily Winston, News Editor

The Ward Melville Tri-M Music Honor Society hosted its annual Scholarship Concert on Friday, February 26th. The concert showcases the talent of Ward Melville’s music program and raises money to support a graduating senior who will pursue music after high school.

The concert opened with sophomore Lawrence Lan’s performance of “Concert Etude No. 1” by Nikolai Kapustin, followed by a duet by vocalist Lexi Bassin and guitarist Chris Schmidt on Lindsay Lohan’s “A Beautiful Life.” Nima Mohammadi, accompanied by Lawrence Lan on piano, performed Beethoven’s “Notturno in D-Major” on viola. Junior saxophonists Chase Small and Jason Rahner brought some jazz to the evening with Jimmy McHugh’s “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” Junior Michal Zadok sang her original song “Lighthouse” with Nick Carson on guitar. Following their performance, senior Jason Wallach performed J.S. Bach’s “Prelude in G Minor” on piano. Senior Amanda Liu and junior Mirette Nuñez sang two songs from the musical “The Last Five Years.” Mirette performed “Still Hurting” while Amanda followed with “A Summer in Ohio.” To conclude Act I, the band “Turnt Snaco”— consisting of Brett Kiesel on guitar, Cody Stair on ukulele, Conor Heaphy on drums, Alex Smith on saxophone and ukulele and Jenny Bonadonna on piano — performed an original song “Late Night Thoughts.”

After a brief intermission, flutist Brendan Berscak and guitarist Ivan Viro entertained the audience with Astor Piazzolla’s “Libertango,” followed by pianist Shannon Graham playing Chopin’s Waltz in B Minor. Senior vocalist Jacob Haff performed an Adele piece, “When We Were Young,” accompanied by Dana Smith on piano. Julia Pollina sang Annie Ross’s “Twisted,” accompanied by guitarist Ben Cummings and bassist Arthur Ebb. Sophomore Sam Wallach displayed his prowess on piano with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in C-sharp Minor.” Five saxophonists — Teddy Lane and “Juicebox Quartet” members Hanna Bliska, Alex Smith, Jason Rahner, and Cameron Bosch — took the stage next to perform a rendition of Percy Grainger’s “Shepherd’s Hey.” The evening finale featured pop rock group Swim and alternative rock band Milk. Swim features seniors Brian D’Angio on drums, Pat Morelli on piano, Tyler Aigotti on bass, and Ward Melville alumnus Dan McCaffrey on vocals. The night’s last performance showcased Milk on Earth, Wind & Fire’s song “Got To Get You Into My Life.” Milk features Conor Heaphy and Anna Skolnick, guitarist Matt Vicari, bassist Stephen Durko, pianist Pat Morelli, percussionist Dylan Maggio, trumpetists Cody Stair and Peter Jespersen, trombonist Brett Kiesel, and saxophonists Alex Smith, Jason Rahner, and Chase Small.

After a delightful musical evening, performers, friends, family and Tri-M members congregated in the cafeteria for cake and a reception. Performer Amanda Liu reflected on the event, “It was a fun night with remarkable musicians in support of a remarkable cause.” Another performer, Mirette Nuñez, felt similarly: “The Scholarship Concert was a great way to raise money. It’s amazing to see people perform something they are passionate about. It’s not even scary to perform because everyone is so supportive of each other.”

Audience members shared similar sentiments as the performers. Tri-M member Reilly Becchina thought, “The concert was a lot of fun because we had so many awesome kids showcasing their talent and we were able to raise money to help out an aspiring musician!” According to Tri-M member Anuja Joshi, “Not only is [the Scholarship Concert] a great opportunity to recognize the many musicians that we have in our school, but also it’s a great opportunity to support those who will go on to pursue music in their lives. From start to finish, it ran smoothly and each group had a stellar performance.”