With the crowd nearly filling the auditorium, and the stage lit up for the show, Ledyard got its own town-sized version of American Idol on March 7 as Ledyard High School hosted its annual talent show, a tradition that is now well into its second decade.
With 11 performances by approximately 60 student musicians, acts ranged from a cappella groups to instrumental solos and, of course, the obligatory high school rock band or two. And with Ledyard’s strong musical reputation on display, the 400-plus crowd wasn’t disappointed with the performance.
“It went really well,” said Music Department Chairman and Director of Choral Activities Russell Hammond. “There were a variety of acts from a few of your high school rock bands to some of our after-school groups like a cappella choirs and a percussion ensemble; everyone did a great job.”
For students, the talent show is always a highly anticipated event. Stage time is so in demand, students must audition to gain entry into the show, to keep the show within its time constraints. As the sponsor of the show, the Ledyard High School Music Council is responsible for holding the auditions.
The music council, which Hammond described as the “student congress” of the music department, is made up of the student leaders from each ensemble, including the Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Women’s Chorus, Men’s Chorus, Select Singers, Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, and Ledyard Chorale.
Totaling around 25 members, including Hammond, the music council hears auditions from every potential talent show performer and then chooses who will perform in the hour-long show. Typically, the council ends up turning away about 50 percent of the acts. And while it is always tough to make those decisions, Hammond and the music council are always very confident that those they choose will put on strong performances.
“We have such a tradition here in the music program at Ledyard that I think all the acts were well-supported, and the kids know that they’re all doing the best they can so there’s never a lack of enthusiasm for some of the less-experienced acts,” Hammond noted.
The wide variety of acts representing Ledyard’s range of musical talent consisted of four bands, three vocal ensembles, two vocal duos, a drum solo, and an instrumental ensemble. The bands, Nameless to Say, Sever The Ties, The Yeah! Crew, and Monte Carlo, ranged in style from a more classic rock sound, to the screaming vocals of current hard rock. The vocal ensembles all performed a cappella, with the men’s group, Final Cut, performing a “rock-appella” version of “Where In the World is Carmen San Diego” and First Cut performing the Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight.” The women’s group, A Cabellas, which has a more contemporary feel, using vocal percussion along with traditional singing, performed “Bubbly.” The vocal duos Teriah Fleming and Stacey Miner and Emily Janacek and Kevin Wade performed “Emotions” and “Hear, You, Me,” respectively. The untitled drum solo was pounded out by Ben LaRose, and Percussion Concussion, the instrumental ensemble, performed “It Came From the Garage,” something akin to the music in the acclaimed Broadway musical, STOMP.
With such a wide array of musical performances, one would think that Hammond would have his hands full trying to coach and rehearse with all 11 vastly different acts. Yet Hammond explained how that is what makes Ledyard High’s talent show so special.
“That’s what’s pretty unique about it; it’s kind of their own thing,” Hammond explained. “We hear their audition and then we hear them the night of the show. They have to audition with what they’re going to do at the show so we know they’re well-prepared…The uniqueness is that it’s a showcase of the talents of the Ledyard students. It’s all student run, student led, the groups, the organization, everything. I have very little to do with it other than making sure an adult is around when these things are happening, supervision kind of stuff.”
Another aspect of the evening’s performance that wasn’t lost on Hammond, or the crowd for that matter, was the skilled way in which the two emcees, Matt Llewellyn and Kevin Schwenk, flawlessly hosted the evening. The two hosts took on the normal role, introducing each act before they came up, and talking with the crowd between acts to keep the show moving along, but as Hammond pointed out, Llewellyn and Schwenk are an experienced duo.
“We had two really good emcees this year that added a unique touch,” Hammond said. “We’ve always had emcees, but these two guys are very good—they sort of revived their role from when they did it in the eighth grade many years ago. They were very organized, and they had videos and different acts to kill the time between performances when we were setting up backstage.”
Overall Hammond said the show went off wonderfully, and as a fund-raiser the event was equally successful, earning around $2,000 for the music department. Yet, beyond the crowd’s approval or money raised, the most important aspect of the show is allowing the students some measure of artistic freedom.
“Really our focus is just to display the students and their abilities,” Hammond said. “Ledyard music is this huge program that does all of this organized music led by the teachers and performed as a group. The talent show is just a great opportunity for the kids to showcase their own individual talents and taste in music.”
No Rest for the Weary
Just days after hosting the annual talent show, Ledyard’s music department traveled to New York City where its members had been invited by Perform America to take the stage of the Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center.
Perform America is an organization that highlights outstanding high school music programs by hosting concerts in high-profile theaters. Ledyard High traveled to New York with its Symphonic Band and its Festival Chorus, each performing for 20 minutes. Five other East Coast schools were honored as well, including three from New York, two from Pennsylvania, and one from New Jersey. Ledyard was the only school from Connecticut invited.
Hammond noted, “We’ve been around a really long time, and our reputation is pretty well-established…It was a long day, but it was a great opportunity for the kids. All the kids enjoyed it and the parents loved it; we even had three buses of parents that came down to see the performance.”