““Concert and Nibbles,” the Aragon Music Boosters’ annual music potluck took place on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at the Aragon Theater from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Music students and parents arrived at 5:30pm to bring and share food. The evening is split into two sections: socializing and eating followed by entertainment by the music groups.
Aragon band teacher Troy Davis says, “We have about 400 students, 10 ensembles [including] two jazz bands, two orchestras, three choirs, and three bands. This year we also had another student led group, the Steel Drums Band, which performed in the lobby before the concert while people were eating. We also had an acapellas women’s choir, Treble with Angels, and September, our men’s acapella choir.” All these students performed to a near full house theater of approximately 500 audience members.
Aragon orchestra teacher John Chen notes the small amount of change which has happened to the annual music potluck. Chen says, “This has been the same format for the past two and a half years. For the last 20 or so years it used to be in the gym. Now it’s in the theater, so it’s not too different.”
The purpose of the potluck stays the same — It goes above providing an event for music students to showcase their talent. Instead, senior Christopher Griffis says, “It’s to help promote music boosters and donations and get the start of music into it.”
“I would say that for a lot of people it’s hearing [the Aragon music department] for its first basic performance of the year — kind of giving them a baseline on how good groups are and what they should expect for the rest of the year,” says junior Spencer Almirol.
Davis agrees, saying. “The purpose is to come together as a community in the music department and be able to celebrate together and hear the progress of the students after the first six or seven weeks of the school year.“
For Griffis, the music potluck is nothing new. Griffis says, “I feel pretty confident in my fourth year playing music.”
In contrast, many freshman feel quite differently for their first performance. Some have expressed gratitude for the casual atmosphere of their first performance.
Women’s choir student and freshman Sylvia Young says, “I feel very nervous but also very excited. I do like how this event is pretty small compared to the other events that will happen later on for the music department.”
“I feel since we did an informal performance, we’ll feel more comfortable doing more complex and formal performances,” adds concert band trombone player and freshman Mitchell Yee.
In reference to the potluck portion of the evening, Almirol says, “The first part of the potluck was very enjoyable. It gave me a chance to hang out with friends I don’t normally see at these events from other groups like band and orchestra.” Yee says, “Now we know who’s playing what and who’s in what band and how we can improve.”
Almirol continues, “It gave me an insight on how they play and how seriously they take music.”
Gathering feedback from different students and parents, Davis comments, “It’s always a little hectic because there’s a lot of of people performing at the same time and there’s a lot going on. Some people commented there’s so much going on sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. But the overall product and the success of the night was high.”
“My favorite part about the potluck [was] seeing all the new families and all the new students perform and seeing the progress students make in such a short amount of time,” says Chen.
The music potluck marks the beginning of another school year for Aragon’s music department. Throughout the year there will be many more concerts, competitions, and various other performances to add. “
