Bopp will solo with Hummel Trumpet Concerto

GUILDERLAND — Each spring, Guilderland students are part of two music traditions — the best performer in a concerto competition wins a solo spot in a school concert, and choral and instrumental groupss attend the New York State School Music Association Major Ensemble Evaluation Festival.

Leonard Bopp, a junior at Guilderland High School, won this year’s concerto competition with his performance of the Kennan Sonata for trumpet.

Bopp will be performing the first movement of the Hummel Trumpet Concerto accompanied by the High School Symphony Orchestra on May 29, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Guilderland High School auditorium. The concert will also feature additional performances by the Symphony Orchestra and the Concert Choir and the Mixed Choir.

Bopp told The Enterprise earlier that the only thing musical about his family is his father likes listening to jazz and they go to concerts together. Although he started out being most interested in jazz, Bopp said that now he’s moved toward classical.

Bopp plans to pursue his study of the trumpet in college. He is looking at The Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, the University of Michigan, and Northwestern, and plans to sing in college, too.

Bopp, who now sings bass in the Concert Choir, spoke to The Enterprise early this school year when a concert at Carnegie Hall was being planned; it was since canceled because of the costs.

Bopp said at that time, “Learning the notes and the rhythms is only step one. After that, you’re not reading, you’re channeling — you let it out through your voice or your instrument.”

He concluded, “Music goes places where words can’t. It brings out the depth of your spirit.”

NYSSMA

Large ensembles at the Evaluation Festival receive written and recorded comments, suggestions and critiques from two certified adjudicators. The music performed is specifically selected from graded literature approved by NYSSMA; groups from across the state strive for a perfect performance.

Guilderland groups attending the choral evaluation at Bethlehem High School on April 24 will be the Farnsworth Middle School Select Choir at 11.45 a.m., the Seventh-Grade Chorus at 10:45 a.m., the Sixth-Grade chorus at 11:15 a.m., the High School Concert Choir at 1:15 p.m., and the High School Chamber Choir at 2:15 p.m.

Guilderland groups attending the instrumental evaluation at Shaker High School on April 24 and 25 will be the Eighth-Grade Band at 2:45 p.m.  on Thursday, the High School Wind Ensemble at 2:15 p.m.  on Friday, and the Seventh-Grade Band at 3 p.m. on Friday.

These events are free and open to the public. For more information, call Guilderland Music Administrator Lori Hershenhart at 861-8591, ext. 1106.

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