The Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Junior High School spring concert featured a packed house recently in the school’s auditorium.
The Junior High Chorus started off the evening under the direction of Junior-Senior High vocal music teacher MaryAnne Clark-House, singing “Land of Our Dreams,” an Armenian lullaby by Hope Harrison and Jay Althouse.
Scat soloists Alice LaCelle and Isabelle Walter were featured in “Blue Skies” by Irving Berlin and Roger Emerson.
Perhaps the most heart-wrenching portion of the evening was a performance by the APW ASL Hands and Voices Club, which featured a combination of voices and sign language.
The club emphasizes “Total Communication (TC),” a philosophy that incorporates all means of communication, including formal signs, natural gestures, fingerspelling, body language, listening, lipreading and speech.
The group performed everything from fun tunes like “Zippadeedoodah” by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss to more emotional pieces like an “Irish Toast” with words, “May the sun shine warm upon your face; may the rain fall soft upon your fields, until we meet again.”
ASL instructors Andrea Holier and Kathryn Fathers led the group.
Junior-Senior High instrumental music teacher Janet Fiacco directed the Junior High Band in “Denbridge Way” by James Swearingen, featuring soloists Ben Smith and Kindl Leja.
“The Best Years of Our Lives” by David Jaymes and Geoffrey Dean also featured trumpet soloist, Ainsley Brouse.
The students put a special thank you in the event’s program thanking Superintendent of Schools Anita Murphy, Junior-Senior High School Principal Michelle Crisafulli, Director of Instructional Technology James Heffron, the A.V. Club and advisor Lee Teachout, the custodial staff, the Board of Education and the family and friends that came out to support the young musicians.
