Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004 • Westwood band students perform at Christmas Concert before winter break

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004 edition of the Lassen County Times.

Westwood band students played a few selections planned for their evening concert Wednesday, Dec. 15, before an audience at Fletcher Walker Elementary mid-afternoon.

Michael Bergin, music instructor for the Westwood Unified School District, took the opportunity to inspire the students in the primary grades. When the fourth-grade students sat down to perform with their flutophones, Bergin asked where the third-graders were sitting and reminded them that next year they would be sitting in the chairs on the stage performing.

The first-year music students showed off their skill playing a tune titled, “Down and Up.” Younger students were delighted as Bergin asked the fourth-graders to play it faster and faster. They also supported their classmates by singing wholeheartedly as they played “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

“Juba,” the final number, provided the fourth-graders with a chance to play different parts of music similar to a regular orchestra.

After briefly warming up, the fifth-graders began their portion of the concert with an old Christmas carol, “Good King Wenceslas.”

Following their performance, Bergin pointed out that the regular band instruments the students receive in this grade sounded much different from the flutophones.

When Bergin introduced the sixth-graders he told the audience that the group had a year and a half of practice on a musical instrument. They began their performance with an audience sing-along, “This Old Man” and continued with a couple of upbeat numbers including the fight song from the University of Michigan and “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

“Students in the junior high band are playing because they like music and want to continue. They don’t have to take music anymore,” Bergin said before the group played “The Simple Gifts of Christmas.”

“Angel in the Snow” followed it. Before the number was performed, Bergin asked if anyone in the audience had ever made a snow angel. Most quickly raised their hands, indicating that they had fallen backwards into freshly fallen snow moving their arms up and down and legs out and in to leave a wing span at the back of their body and the look of a flowing robe at their feet when they stood up.

Another number about riding in a 4×4 truck in the winter had props to help audience members envision slipping off the road into a snow bank. Once the truck made of cardboard was pushed free of the snow bank, it headed to a cardboard McDonald’s.

Bergin introduced the Advanced Band as the “cream at the top of the milk.” He explained that he meant they were the elite players within the school district.

The audience showed its appreciation for the band’s skill by cheering loudly following each number. First the band played tribute to the Pink Panther with a piece created by Henry Mancini. Bergin said they had thrown in some Star Wars.

Their second number was “Jump,” which the students had performed at Cal Band Day before a crowd of 63,000. Bergin pointed out the audience that day was the size of 22 Westwoods.

The Advanced Band ended its portion of the concert with a Christmas Carol sing-along that included “Deck the Halls,” “Oh Christmas Tree,” “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

The band students performed again that evening at a concert held in the Westwood High Gym.