KHS Band puts on concert to remember

KELLOGG — Kellogg High School’s Concert and Jazz Bands put on a show last week that won’t soon be forgotten.

Under the direction of substitute band instructor Anita Price, the band utilized one of the school’s more unheralded architectural features and held their annual end of the year concert in the breezeway beneath the main classroom areas.

It was a perfect 70 degree evening and the breezeway lived up to its name in truest fashion, as the students performed two hours of music in front of a comfortable and energetic crowd.

“It went fantastic and a lot of it had to do with the fact that we had it out in the breezeway,” Price said. “It seems as though they had never used that thing for anything before and it was just fantastic. People enjoyed looking at the scenery, we strung Edison lights out there for ambiance, and the sound was great with no echo. It was just really a great experience.”

The KHS Concert Band took listeners to the movies so to speak with their Night at the Theater presentation — where they played a number of scores from different popular films, including "Moana," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "The Avengers," "Bridge over the River Kwai," "Titanic" and "How to Train Your Dragon."

“People had fun and really enjoyed hearing music that they were familiar with,” Price said.

Following a quick intermission, the KHS Jazz Band took listeners on a trip through many different varieties of Jazz music, including several swing pieces, some Latin-based music, and many others.

“Everyone was happy as can be out there,” Price said. “The kids played so well and they all looked so nice in their dress clothes, it was just fantastic.”

Price took over for Shad Frazier earlier in the year after Frazier was called to active duty with the National Guard to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Price was left in charge of the band programs at both KHS and Kellogg Middle School for much of the school year.

“We had one meeting before he left, and I was basically allowed to run it however I wanted — but I wanted to try to do it how he would have done it,” Price said. “But it was tough, especially at the middle school level. But I enjoyed it all so much.”

Price also put on end of the year concerts for the middle school’s bands as well, both went exceptionally well and were well-received by the students and the parents alike.

Frazier recently announced that he wouldn’t be returning to the Kellogg School District, which means that the district will be looking for a new band director for the third time in the last five years.

After taking on such a monumental task this last year, Price has no intentions of returning to teaching full-time.