OPS percussion students of all ages will perform “Connected” on April 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. at the OHS auditorium. The show incorporates multiple art forms like band, choir, orchestra, theatre, dance and visual art. This unique experience takes the audience through a story via percussion.
“No one else does a percussion concert that involves all the forms of art when it comes to the secondary school level like we do,” said Aaron Klausing, OPS percussion director.
What makes the show even more unique is six of the 14 songs that will be performed are arranged by Klausing, making them world premieres. One of the featured songs this year is Coldplay’s “Head Full of Dreams.” Klausing took the original song and rearranged it to allow fifth- and sixth-graders to play it. Owensboro High School student, Trevor Elliott, even got in on the arrangement mix and wrote/arranged a tune for Red Steel, the band’s steel pan band. The song is called “Na Na Na” with the original being written by Pentatonix.
“The percussion concert is important because it gives percussion a chance to play other music than the concert band music, which can often be boring for percussionists. We get a chance to play more challenging percussion music and play more music that we enjoy,” said Miranda Phelps, OHS student.
The show will follow an original script written by Abby Lane, Klausing’s sister-in- law. OHS theatre students will portray a group of friends at Davidson High School who are waiting for class to start when they become aware of the latest in a recent string of media blackouts. The information blackouts affect all broadcast media and internet communication, and people all over the country are discussing their theories and worries about who is behind them—but struggling to communicate them with others. When evidence of a plan to close their school as part of a mysterious new government training program arrives at the office, the friends begin to form their own plan to make their voices heard above the strange new silence.
“The percussion concert means I get to hang out with all of my closest friends at once and do something I love at the same time, which is play music,” added Phelps.
Admission is free.
