On Friday January 20, BSGE’s cafegymatorium was packed with excited parents, teachers, and students, all looking forward to the annual winter concert. The 7th grade, some of the 9th grade, the school orchestra, and several soloists performed specially chosen pieces, including one written by the 9th grade class themselves. These soloists included Lynca Saito ‘21, who played Chopin Nocturne, Erica Lei ‘20 performing River Flows in You, and Ethan Yung ‘19, with the piece La Campanella.
State Champs- Perfect Score
State Champs is a pop punk band that has recently gained fame in the punk scene. Their most recent album, Around the World and Back, contains an upbeat track called Perfect Score. Perfect Score is the fifth track on the album and shows their more pop side. For someone who has never listened to State Champs, this is a great first song because it is a fitting representation of their style of music. Perfect Score is also very catchy and is a great song to listen to at any time.
Shane- Insecure
Having released a total of six songs, Shane is not well-known, but deserves a lot more recognition. His most “popular” song, Insecure, has a very upbeat tempo, but is still relaxing and soothing. Watching the music video for this track is a great idea because it is definitely not your typical dance music video. The video depicts your typical love story, but with a lot more passion and dancing. You should listen to Insecure because even though it isn’t a new style of music, Shane’s voice transforms his songs into a soothing form of pop that makes you want to dance, but is also great for just sitting down and doing homework.
Thursday, May 29th, was BSGE’s 2014 Spring Concert. The entire 9th grade participated, as did the school band: Players for Peace. Some students, such as Anu Shree Rajagopal ‘17 and Mariadolores Alvarez ‘17 had special performances. Anu played a traditional Indian violin, and Mariadolores showed off her flamenco dancing skills. The Players for Peace played well-known songs such as The Star-Spangled Banner. After that came intermission, and then the 9th graders played many complicated pieces such as the William Tell Overture, And the Mountains Rising…, and Swingin’ Shepard Blues.
Ms. Nikkolos, the music teacher and conductor during the concert, was very pleased with the concert’s turnout. She called it a “demonstration of the ninth grade achievement.” The achievement in question is knowledge of reading sheet music and playing percussion instruments. Some of the pieces the 9th graders played are on an 11th grade level, meaning that the 9th graders showed exceptional skill. Once that skill is mastered, Ms. Nikkolos explained, it is much easier to play any instrument.
At 7:00 pm on Tuesday, January 28th BSGE’s Orchestra and seventh grade performed for their Winter Concert. The concert was headed by Ms. Nikkolos, BSGE’s music teacher. This concert featured several piano and violin soloists also. The seventh grade performed “Summoning the Spirits”, “High School Cadets”, “Polka Dots”, “Kiss of Fire”, “Climb Every Mountain”, and the “Clog-Shoe Dance”. Additionally, the orchestra performed “The Star Spangled Banner”, “America the Beautiful”, “Holiday Fantasy” and “Fiesta Mexicali”. Ms. Nikkolos is proud to have worked with this group of students. She calls them an “exceptional group of seventh graders and orchestra members.” Elijah Karshner, a 8th grader in the Orchestra, said,” The band concert was a benefit concert. I liked that we were helping a good cause.”
This year the money raised at the concert from donations were given to Clean
Sam Ulano, a man well-known to BSGE music students, passed away on January 2nd. He was a drummer and wrote his own music books used frequently by BSGE’s band and music classes. The band has frequently performed for Mr. Ulano in the past. He worked with a few of our students to help them with their music skills and teach them how to play and read sheet music properly. Furthermore, Sam Ulano donated instruments to our school and, according to music teacher Mrs. Nikkolos, “Not a single instrument in our school was purchased without the help of Mr. Ulano.” Mr. Ulano was a great supporter of the school’s music course and after-school band.
On Friday the 13th of December, Ms. Nikkolos’ orchestra performed at Sunnyside Center (a senior center). They played six band pieces and three solos during the afternoon. The concert went smoothly, and the seniors enjoyed listening to the music while they ate lunch. Elijah H ’18 found the experience very rewarding. “I felt happy because I was bringing love and happiness to others,” he explained. Ms. Nikkolos felt that the concert was “fabulous.” “It is a joy to see our BSGE musicians work so hard and make so many people happy,” she added. Xandy ’19 remarked that “it was fascinating.”
1. Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend- With highly varied influences and obscure cultural references sprinkled throughout, Vampire Weekend’s third album is musically and lyrically interesting, lending itself to being played on repeat for weeks on end. The often serious lyrical content and overlying themes of death, aging and religion juxtapose the upbeat, catchy music that makes you want to loudly sing along, allowing you to ponder your existence while getting turnt at the same time. The album takes a slight dip in quality towards the end, with Hudson and Young Lion, the last two tracks of the album, being completely skippable; however, the first ten songs make up for it. Actually, the last minute of Hannah Hunt alone makes up for it.
BSGE’s annual Spring Concert will be on May 30th. This is a benefit concert that will raise money for charities. The Players for Peace, the school orchestra, will play that night in addition to the 9th grade.
The Players for Peace will play “Cyberspace Overture”, “Water Music”, “The National Anthem” and “Fiesta Mexicali.” The 9th grade will perform “The William Tell Overture,” ‘Pet Rock,” and “Summoning the Spirits.” This is an original program that contains numerous
On December 13th, BSGE’s orchestra, the Players for Peace, performed for senior citizens at the Sunnyside Community Center. The 26 member band, which draws from all grades, performed during the school day and played eight pieces they have been practicing after school since the beginning of the year.
7th grader, Elijah K ’18, who plays the violin in the orchestra, commented that the performance “Made you proud of yourself” especially when playing the national anthem because some members of the audience stood up and began to sing along.
Annie C ’18, who also plays the violin for the orchestra, commented that the concert was a “good experience because Ms. Nikkolos wanted me to play a solo but I didn’t want to but we came to an agreement that me and Francesca would do a duet.” The whole experience was also
The BACC Rag 
