Colony High Marching Band
Matanuska Susitna Orchestra Concert in Honor of Colony High's Music Trip to Ireland!
Contributed by Janel Gagnon and Jillian Blount
Colony High School’s Marching Band, Orchestra, and top choral ensemble - Vivace - have been invited to perform throughout Ireland in March of 2025 as part of their St. Patrick’s Day festivities! In a gesture of great generosity, the Matanuska Susitna Orchestra (MSO) will hold a concert on April 21st at 3:00 pm at the Glenn Massay Theater to help fundraise for the trip. When Kate Patterson, the conductor of MSO, heard that the Colony High School Music Department was selected to go to Ireland, she immediately texted Dr. Burton, Colony’s band and orchestra director, to let him know that they would like to do a concert to help raise funds for the trip. The orchestra’s mission is “making music make a difference” and they fundraise for non-profits at least three times a year. The orchestra donates their time, the costs of music, and the venue so that the non-profit has only to advertise and give their best pitch to the community.
Wondering what selections you will hear? Kate Patterson said, “The program as always is a challenge. With a limited budget and library, I had to come up with an idea for the program. I have been sitting on a couple of Marches that I have been wanting to do and then I had the Leroy Anderson’s Irish Suite in the file, so off went my brain with the idea to center the program on Marches.” Hence the title for the concert itself: “March Toward Ireland!”
“Now it is hard to put into words what I was thinking as the program was beginning to gel, but I will try. To start, I wanted to highlight through the music the excitement of being chosen to go to Ireland, and I thought that the 1812 Overture would set the mood. Then with the sudden realization of how much work that was going to entail, I thought we would do March to the Scaffold, with the War March of the Priests coming along afterwards. Thinking how one could go to the scaffold without the priests! March Slav transitions us to the feeling of we can do this! Murph’s March is lighthearted and sends us over the hump and on our way to Ireland for our final two selections.”
Admission is based on donations, so please join us! This is a very family-friendly event and bringing children is encouraged. We will have some baked goods for sale and other related items available for purchase. Students who have committed to the trip will be in attendance, seeking donations, answering questions, and helping to spread excitement. Concert attendees will delight in seeing a number of Colony’s band and orchestra students up on stage playing alongside the MSO.
Additionally, several members of Vivace, the top choir at CHS, will perform at the concert. Dr. Burton, the band and orchestra director, and Ms. Rentz, choir director, acknowledged that they would hope to raise $22,000 in total for the trip as it will be costly to get instruments overseas, as well as providing accessibility to the trip for all students involved. Please join us as we ramp up excitement and fundraising efforts for this momentous, once in a lifetime opportunity! We hope to see you at the MatSu Orchestra concert at the Glenn Massay Theater at 3:00 PM on Sunday, April 21st, 2024.
The Glenn Massay Theater is located on the campus of the Mat-Su College at 8295 E College Dr, in Palmer. There is ample parking. Admission is by donation only.