By Harry McCarthy ’13, Staff Writer

December’s widely anticipated Winter Instrumental Concert meant a lot more to the Arts Department than just another outstanding show.  Highlighting some of the impressive musicians among its ranks, the Upper School Orchestra, String Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and Chameleon tore the roof off of the auditorium on December 15th.  Ms. Emelianoff, the Director of Instrumental Music, led the talented orchestra in its performance of an exciting percussion-driven set, the highpoint of which was definitely a thunderous rendition of “Volcano” composed by Alan Hovhaness.  However, the standout group of the evening for the Orchestra were without a doubt the string section. Ms. Emelianoff describes these superb players saying, “Any high school music teacher would be thrilled to have even one musician on that level in their violin section and I am blessed to have three.”  In addition to the string section, the trombone section wowed with an impressive display of instrumental mastery in their performance of what is called a trombone smear, which takes advantage of the trombones ability to play between the notes.

Before the show, Ms. Emelianoff talked about the way in which, in the world of non-vocal music, the words are substituted with the emotional feel of an instrument, or as she puts it  “instrumental color.” The men and women of Newark Academy’s Jazz Program certainly create this unique emotion from the instruments. After last year’s many successes, from the State Finals to Essentially Ellington, expectations have risen for both the big Jazz Band and Chameleon, the select jazz group.  The musicians in these groups continue to exceed expectations.  This was evident from the moment the jazz portion of the evening began.  In a set peppered with a record number of soloists, the jazz band blazed through great song after great song.  One of the highlights for me, an audience member, was “Royal Garden Blues” which really showcased the professional range of every section of the band. Finally, it was time for the award-winning Chameleon.

After last year’s amazing Essentially Ellington Festival, Chameleon has grown even more, becoming a tighter band and acquiring a multitude of talented soloists. Led by what Mr. Tolentino, Jazz Director, describes as “one of the strongest senior classes I have ever had,” the soloists of Chamelon are competitive on a national scale.  Besides the ever present and ever awesome list of regular soloists, Coleman Hughes, Nathan Rice, Nathaniel Okin, Patrick Peters, and Trevor Williams, Chameleon has also benefited greatly from the dramatic rise of talent in Kevin Jiang, Thomas Pan, Aditya Srivatsan, and Wes Christman. The rhythm section, like the rest of the band, has really seen great gains in terms of sound.  According to senior bassist Sam Wohlforth, the Essentially Ellington experience last year “really inspired a lot of the younger players to step up their game” in terms of practice and improvised soloing. All of this showed during the Winter Instrumental Concert, which was not only a wonderful night of music from Ms. Emelianoff’s Orchestra and Mr. Tolentino’s Jazz Band, but also a sign that very big things are happening in Newark Academy’s Instrumental Program. The community must proudly enjoy what is truly a golden age of instrumental music at Newark Academy.