Over Feb. 27-29, gold brass and steel strings captivated audiences day after day as a week of musical talent unfolded. Filling every available seat, family and friends arrived to witness the harmonies...
Eyes closed, a musician woos the crowd with his polished alto saxophone. Each note flows to the next smoother than a serene brook, guiding in the direction of improvement. The crowd can feel the notes,...
Over the past few weeks, students have traveled all over the country. Distributive Education Club of America (DECA) students went to Orlando, Fla. to compete in the DECA International Career Development...
Raj Jaladi, Newsletter Editor/Data Analyst
• April 21, 2023
The All-State Band is an annual tradition featuring the top musicians at the high school level in the state of Missouri. Over 1,200 students auditioned for the 105-member 2023 All-State Band. A journey...
A late-night summer breeze blows as junior Kristen Skordos and four others sit on a curb with Ted Drewes in hand. The ice cream freezes their palms as they chatter about the event from earlier that night:...
At age 13, after listening to “Lithium” by Nirvana, senior Connor Leib had his whole life figured out, becoming involved with music, all thanks to the bug.
“The bug is about the feeling that...
Imagine being a fly on the wall and hearing the voluminous notes choir teacher Brian Parrish plays while he is teaching his children the solfege scale on his piano, mirroring how he teaches his students...
For the first time since 2001, the Jazz Band has a full instrumentation. This means that the band has players for each instrument required for musical pieces written for large bands, including saxophones,...
![Eyes glued to his sheet music, senior Andrew Gillies accompanies the Jazz Band as the pianist. During the annual Winter Jazz Concert, Gillies was chosen to improvise a solo during the song, “T.J. Boogie.” ¨I love concerts [because of] how the audience reacts, and just the stage lights [shining on me],¨ Gillies said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DSC_3774-1200x801.jpg)
![Members of concert band work to play the soaring melodies of "Crowns of Glory" by Jack Wilds during their winter concert. Because of the piece's difficulty, the band had to work together extra diligently to make it sound concert-ready. "[Band has] helped me [with] teamwork because it's not just an individual thing. The whole group has to be put together to make something amazing," Concert Band member and sophomore Ella Bruner said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/unnamed-3-1-1200x800.jpg)
![DECA students (left) stand shoulder to shoulder, wearing their blazers. Meanwhile, band students (center) pose before “The Bean”and journalism students (right) show off an award from their conference in San Francisco. “It was a lot of fun because we were a small group, which meant we had a lot of say in decisions of where we eat and go to do stuff,” junior and DECA competitor Suraiya Saroar said. (graphic made by Claire Creely, photo by Kelly Kennedy [left], photo by Lacy Roberts [middle], and photo by Debra Klevens [right])](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-08-at-11.20.05-AM-900x498.png)
![Junior Kristen Skordos sings for her band Okay Violet’s third performance at Ballwin Sno-Cone. Skordos believed being in a band helped her develop as a person and deal with non-music related problems. “Later in life, if I’m ever facing a challenge, it will be different than learning a song, but I’ll put myself in those shoes. In the moment, things can be so stressful, but once you’ve done it, you’ll [see how] amazing it is,” Skordos said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Kristen-Skordos2.jpg)
![Hair flipping senior Connor Leib plays in a two-hour show with his band Good Question. The performance occurred at Earth Surf– a skatepark located in Chesterfield, Mo. “Playing in a skate park is very loud and [echoey], but it brings out a very punk underground and grimy vibe that’s cool. And it kinda brings out [an angsty feeling] so much that after our [show] I kicked over my drums and broke my high hat stand,” Leib said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/image2-1-900x675.png)
![Blowing into his trumpet, senior and trumpet section leader Karl Oswald practices his instrument outdoors at band rehearsal. Band has resumed rehearsals with restrictions put in place to adhere to social distancing guidelines. “One big limitation is that all of our rehearsals have to be monitored very carefully. That means I can't just pick a random day of the week for the trumpet section and myself to come together and rehearse; everything needs to be very planned out,” Oswald said. “This year, I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to play music in person with people I care about and [perform] my solo.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/DSC_0114-900x600.jpg)
