As soon as the new school year rings in, your West Branch High School and Middle School hit the ground running, instantly working on their music for their winter (and spring) concert held during the second marking period. The annual show was held on Wednesday, December 10th, for the 2025-26 school year, where both the middle and high school students showcased the hard work they have applied to their music over the last 17 weeks, each with unique folders of pieces. Such pieces played by the high school are ‘Hammer and Rail’, a train car themed song, the known holiday classic ‘I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas’ arranged into a classic march, a beautiful slow piece entitled ‘Country Wildflowers’, and the always welcome ‘Pennsylvania Polka’, for the folks who missed it being played during this summers’ concert series preformed by the band.

After the high school performed the entirety of their folder, the middle school went onto the stage again, this time alongside the senior high students and performed the classic hit ‘Carol of the Bells’ altogether. While they performed this piece, they also had two guests play the drums and electric guitar with the bands, the drummer being a longtime friend and teacher of our directors.

When asked about the difficulties of putting together such an event, the director, Mr Jones, answered, “a very big undertaking logistically.  Not only do we have to transition over 100 musicians onto the stage in the middle of a live audience, but we also have middle school, high school, and guests that have never played together until that very day.  There is a lot of musical adjusting that needs to happen in a very limited amount of time”. The event was an overwhelming success, and the band looks forward to their spring concert at the end of the year.

Image Caption: Your WB band has recently had another very successful winter concert

Image Credits: Keagan Dobo