Bigfork Schools Band and Choir celebrate year’s end with spring concerts

The Bigfork High School Band and Choir have another year on books full of music and fun. Bigfork Schools Director of Bands Randi Tunnell said she’s proud of her student’s progress and is excited to see where the choir program will go next year with the hiring of a new choir teacher.

Tunnell said she really enjoys teaching the choir class and has been doing it for several years, but isn’t a professional vocalist. She said she can sing and play piano, but her expertise lies as a band director. She teaches the choir class, four band classes and a guitar class at the high school and middle school.

Tunnell said she has a core group of dedicated choir members who return to the class each year. Those students have embraced that they don’t have to be a large choir to sound good over the last couple of years. But, confidence is key.

“You have to have voices that are confident when you have a small choir, because everyone is super important. Even though we have 10 students, three of those are gentlemen, of those three, they are singing two parts between them. So, I’ve got some really confident boys and that makes it to where we can sing some really great stuff. But, it’s some pressure when you’re the only one, they do seem to enjoy it, though,” Tunnell said.

Their concert tonight will feature pieces they performed at the District Festival, including some ensembles and solos. They’ll be singing songs in Latin and Spanish, as well as a Beatles’ song and a song from Disney’s Tangled. Tunnell said she enjoys letting students pick out music, which they order from a website.

“We do a fun variety … but it’s funny, the one they love to do the most is our Motzart piece, it’s from his requiem. It’s super powerful but also accessible for younger choirs,” Tunnell said.

She said she is excited to see what a new choir teacher can bring to the program when they start at the beginning of next school year.

Tunnell said the choir got Superior ratings at the District Music Festival at Glacier High School. She said her all-female vocal ensemble and soloist Dylynne Cosand got Superior ratings at the State Music Festival.

Bands from grade levels 6-12 also performed their spring concert this week. On Tuesday night, they performed at Sliter Memorial Park for a crowd of parents and community members.

Tunnell said the band is broken up into two different groups: concert band and the wind ensemble. She said all of her freshman and most of her sophomore players are in concert band, with higher grade levels playing in the wind ensemble. Tunnell said there are about 60 students all together, and that they practice and compete separately, but perform together for concert season.

She said coming back to festivals after not going for a year meant that around three-quarters of her band had never been. This was a steep learning curve for both students and parents, who learned what District Festival is and the logistics of

“Everybody has to take a solo or ensemble to District Festival, and it’s a lot of work and it was a lot of educating this year. Just because it’s been so long, but it felt so good to get back at it,” Tunnell said.

At the State Music Festival in Helena, Abby Sloan earned a Superior Rating with her clarinet solo Andante and Allegro by Clerisse. Freshman Boden Barr earned an Excellent Rating for his french horn solo. Liam Schimmelman qualified for State Music Festival and earned an Excellent Rating in his Trumpet solo. Erin Abbott earned a spot at State and an Excellent Rating on her Clarinet solo Aria and Scherzo by Gabucci.

The band just returned from a trip where they performed at Disneyland. Any year they take this trip, Tunnell said they try to incorporate Disney music, including score from The Incredibles, Pirates of the Caribbean, and “ Grim Grinning Ghosts,” the song played at the Haunted Mansion attraction in the park. The bands also played music from the Flintstones, Star Wars and How To Train Your Dragon.

Tunnell said she wants to thank the community for their support of the band program, including Bigfork Rotary and St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church. She said they’ve helped with fundraising and clinics, and their support has allowed her to bring in artists for the students to learn from.

“I am just so thankful for the community that we live in that values art. I know a lot of communities, a lot of schools don’t have that support. We are super blessed,” Tunnell said.

Tunnell said the Riverbend Association, which puts on the Riverbend Concert Series in the summer, reached out to donate proceeds from the concerts to the band program. To learn more about the band and choir programs at Bigfork Schools, reach out to Tunnell by emailing rtunnell@bigfork.k12.mt.us.