Nanuet Senior high School’s annual Pops Concert is back and better than ever.
This year, the Nanuet Band, Orchestra and Chorus will have the audience up on their feet for a night filled with dance-themed pieces carefully selected by the wonderful ensemble directors, and some even chosen by students. Pieces this year range from Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” to Miami Sound Machine’s “Conga.”
Mixed chorus teacher Mrs. Dobelle was proud to announce that the “‘Dancing Through Life’ and ‘Man in the Mirror’” pieces were chosen by students!”
The process was simple, according to Mrs. Dobelle.
“We assigned a small repertoire project in class,” she said, “during which we discussed how to choose good musical arrangements of pieces for our chorus. Student decisions were based on voice parts, complexity, and how ‘genuine’ the particular arrangements sounded.”
She also showed appreciation for more classical-sounding pieces by selecting “Dance For Love” by Z. Randall Stroope for the concert.
“‘Dance For Love’ is a beautiful, contrasting arrangement with a very different message for our audience,” she said. “Mr. Galbreath knew this piece from his college performance experience.”
Lastly, she rated “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” as “just a classic” and predicted it would make an appearance due to the theme of the concert.
“It gives an opportunity for some soloists to be featured, and the rich harmonies make this arrangement a great one for our chorus,” she explained.
Ms. Lucksom, along with the Orchestra, decided on a Lady Gaga remix as their opening piece.
“This began our conversation of “what is dance music?” and “how do we want to define dance,’” Ms. Lucksom explained. “While this hit mix does include the iconic “Just Dance,” the other tunes (“Poker Face” and “Bad Romance”) aren’t outwardly about dance/dancing. We ultimately arrived at the consensus that these are songs that make us want to move! They inspire dance, so obviously we have to open this concert with this mix. And it helps that the arrangement ends with “Just Dance,” solidifying the intention of the theme for the night.
The orchestra’s second performance piece is “Santana in Concert,” which they believe will add music “with more Latin background and inspiration” to the concert, according to Ms. Lucksom.
“Santana, the band but also the guitarist Carlos Santana, are known for their use of Latin Rock fused with jazz to create songs that make their audiences groove along with them,” Ms. Lucksom says. “It was a fun surprise that the NHS Jazz Knights programmed “Oye Como Va” (another Santana song) this year, too.”
Ms. Lucksom shared who inspired the majority of her pieces for this concert.
“One surprise was the amount of Larry Moore arrangements we ended up with for this program – but he is one of the biggest string pops arrangers out there, so we’re not too surprised,” she said.
All the Disney fans out there will appreciate the concert’s third piece, which is the Waltz from the 1959 princess classic “Sleeping Beauty.”
“We picked [the “Sleeping Beauty Waltz”] to help expand the theme of dance music to include an area that often highlights the strings: Ballet,” Ms. Lucksom explained.
According to Ms. Lucksom, the piece “gave us a great contrast to the other pieces, and it was a fun way to discuss the history of this art form, especially with ballet dancers in the room, many who just finished a run of another Tchaikovsky ballet, The Nutcracker.”
The last piece for the orchestra will be “Shut Up and Dance with Me” by rock band WALK THE MOON.
“This is such an energetic piece that is designed to get people to stop thinking too hard and to just get up and dance” she said. “We got to dive into the cheesy, upbeat styles of the 80s, which is what the band that wrote this song aimed to replicate.”
Mr. Miller is thrilled for his band students to perform “Glenn Miller in Concert.”
“Big band music is dance music,” he said. “It is what my grandparents would go out to hear and dance to. This is our first time exploring his music.”
The band will also be performing “Singin’ in the Rain,” which Mr. Miller describes as “an iconic solo dance scene from the movie of the same name.”
For some livelier music, “Oblivion” is a tango piece with lots of senior features. Mr. Miller notes that this is the band’s first time performing tango music and gives special credit to Molly Marcus, who will be featured on trumpet.
The 80’s classic “Conga” by Miami Sound Machine will be the band’s closing number. Mr. Miller promises “many iconic trumpet licks,” while also giving “the percussion section a chance to be featured.”
The Pops Concert is a fantastic opportunity for members of Nanuet’s Band, Orchestra and Chorus students to choose the music they practice and perform, allowing them to be more passionate about the songs they’re singing or playing.
Nanuet High School is excited to host the Pops Concert on April 2nd, 2025. Audience members can anticipate a fun-filled night of dance-inspired music.