On Wednesday, Dec. 9, the annual winter band concert was disrupted by rumors of a bomb. Half of Garbers Church Rd. was blocked off by police, due to a “suspicious package”, reported WHSV. Despite the disturbance, band director Daniel Upton was never concerned.

“I had no worry at all. The principal checked with [the police]  to make sure everything was cleared and that we didn’t need to take any extra precautions,” Upton said. “I briefly thought ‘Really, what’s going on’, but they would’ve let us know. My biggest worry was getting everyone here because of the detour.”

Dean of Students Kris Vass attended the concert and made attempts to work out the threat.

“The police stopped me at the red light by the high school and told me to turn around. So I called Ms. Blackwell, who was here at school, to let her know that something [was] up and ask if she could call and find out what was going on. So, she called the police non-emergency number.  They sent an officer over to the high school to let us know that everything was okay, that the concert could still go on,” Vass said.

Despite the original concern, the concert was up to Upton’s standards. The band played a variety of Christmas music, including “Sleep” by Eric Whitacre and “Alleluia”. Upton was particularly moved by these two pieces.

“Sleep and Alleluia gave me more chills than they’ve ever given me. I was really, really close to crying in both of them. They were just amazing,” Upton said. “It’s a lot for a high school band to be able to play slow music well and they do it really, really well, so that is very rewarding as their teacher.”

They were songs the Upton performed during his time in band at Virginia Tech for the anniversary of the shooting that took place on campus.

“For a couple of years the wind ensemble would play on the drill field and when we played that piece they miked us, which is odd for a sit-down band, and it’s a sound that you’re not used to because it resonates over the whole campus,” Upton said.  “Just hearing those big impacts ring throughout. I was visioning it when we were playing it tonight and I could relive that important part of my life. I was glad I could share that with the students.”

The band also performed “Polar Express” with student teacher Miranda Fitzgerald. They began the concert with “Christmas Festival” and ended with“Festival Fanfare for Christmas”, played below.

Freshman Jaden Graham played in both the Jazz band and Concert band.

“Everyone just connected [during Jazz band] and it was so awesome playing everything. I just loved it so much,” Graham said.  he also enjoyed the other parts of the concert.

“I think it went really well. I personally enjoyed the jazz section because that’s what I like but I also enjoyed the Symphonic band section and the Concert band portion. I think it went really awesome,” Graham said.  Graham hopes to continues playing the bass in college, and will most likely choose to major in jazz. Hear the concert band performing below.

The band is now preparing for their spring assessment.

Gallery • 7 Photos

Ellie Plass

The symphonic band prepares for the concert.