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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.The Canfield Village Middle School eighth-grade choir, under the direction of Tom Scurich, sang “Gloria In Excelsis” at the school’s annual spring concert on May 21.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.The Canfield Village Middle School seventh-grade choir, under the direction of Tom Scurich, sang “Sing to Me” at the school’s annual spring concert on May 21.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.The Canfield Village Middle School eighth-grade male students, under the direction of Tom Scurich, sang “There Is Nothin Like a Dame,” with students performing solos on May 21.
By ABBY SLANKER
Canfield Village Middle School’s seventh- and eighth-grade choirs, under the direction of Tom Scurich, performed the annual spring choir concert on May 21. The students performed to an auditorium packed with family and friends at Canfield High School. Paraprofessional Tim Elder accompanied the choirs on piano.
The Canfield Cambiata, comprised of seventh- and eighth-grade students, was the first performance of the evening.
The choir started with “Gloria Canon” by Franz Joseph Haydn and moved into “I Never Saw a Moor” by Victor C. Johnson. Next, the choir sang “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho,” a spiritual arranged by Lon Beery, and moved into “A Disney Sing-Along” arranged by Alan Billinglsey.
To close their portion of the concert, the choir performed a rousing rendition of “My Shot” from “Hamilton” by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Scurich welcomed the audience to the concert.
“Good evening and welcome to our seventh- and eighth-grade choral concert. We are delighted to have you with us this evening. Our Canfield Cambiata only practices once a week and have been very successful this year. They earned a Superior rating at the OMEA District Five competition,” Scurich said.
The Canfield High School Chamber Ensemble then took the stage to perform “Il est bel et bon” by Pierre Passereau and “Chattanooga Choo Choo” arranged by Marc Huff.
Seventh-grade student Timmy Domer performed a piano solo of “L’arabesqueOpus 100, No. 2” by Friedrich Burgmuller.
The seventh-grade choir then filled the stage to perform “Furaha!” by Sally K. Albrecht and was accompanied by Anthony Mazzella. Next, the choir performed “Sing to Me” by Ella Wilcox and Laura Farnell.
“We’re going to switch it up a bit here. Some choral music is written just for men and some is written just for women, so first, here are the men,” Scurich said.
The male members of the choir sang “We’re The Men” by Jay Althouse, with the female members of the choir following with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Ashford and Simpson, arranged by Roger Emerson.
The choir then reconvened to sing their last song of the evening, “Rejoice and Sing,” a spiritual arranged by Rollo Dilworth.
Seventh-grade student Simon Kovass performed a piano solo of “L’orange Opus 109, No. 13” by Friedrich Burgmuller.
Scurich then introduced the eighth-grade choir.
“We have 95 students in our eighth-grade choir. They are a very talented group of students. They have very strong music and vocal skills. Their potential is to the moon. I am so proud of them and you will be too after you hear them sing tonight,” Scurich said.
The eighth-grade choir began with “Gloria in Excelsis” from Heiligmesse by Franz Joseph Ahydn, and was accompanied by Madeline Ross.
Next, the choir split into male and female groups to sing two selections from “South Pacific.” The female students went first with “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” with the male students following with “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame.”
As the entire eighth-grade choir came together again on stage, they were joined by the Chamber Ensemble to perform “This is Me” from “The Greatest Showman” by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
To close the concert, the choir sang a rousing rendition of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by Danoff, Novert and Denver.
“What a wonderful night of music. Thank you for coming and thank you for your support,” Scurich concluded.
Student accompanists included seventh-graders Timmy Domer, Emma Gostey, Simon Kovass, Anthony Mazzella, Mallory Stilson and Aven Thomas. Eighth-grade accompanists included Dylan Aubel and Madeline Ross. Percussionist Stephen Ley also accompanied the choirs.
The students and their families were invited to a reception in the cafeteria following the concert.