Author: adviser

Poly’s Spring Band concert was held at Cal State Long Beach’s Daniel Recital Hall on Tuesday, June 2nd.
The Concert Band performed “Trifolium,” a trumpet trio featuring sophomores Brandon Samuels and Tatiana Tate, and junior Hunter Davis as lead trumpet.
Following Concert Band, Symphonic Winds stunned the audience with two very dramatic moving pieces, the first being Steven Verhelst’s “A Song for Japan.” The song, featuring senior Michael Franco on trombone, serves as a tribute to the victims of the Fukushima earthquake that occurred in Japan in April 2011.
Symphonic Winds ended the night with Daniel Bukvich’s “Symphony No. 1,” a four movement commemoration of the victims of the firebombing of Dresden, Germany during World War II.
“The piece even included spoken words in German meaning help, fire, smoke, and firestorm,” said junior flutist Jonathan Rodriguez.
The piece moved the audience, leaving them in fascination and in awe.
“The piece ended with me playing a low note with inflections to imitate a sob. That was the last piece of the concert and it left such a powerful impact on the audience that there wasn’t any applause until the conductor left the stage,” said Rodriguez.
Overall, the band members were very pleased with their last concert of the school year.
“There was a full crowd, the bands played really well, the musical selection was very good, and the bands had a lot of support and love for the graduating seniors,” said Davis.

Poly seniors took to the Longfellow Elementary School stage for the KeysTone Piano Quartet senior recital on Friday, June 5th.
This was the last time the advanced pianists would play as Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits. The quartet is made up of seniors Mayvera Doaran, Phoebe Hao, Jasmine Kay, and Damian Nguyen.
Junior pianist Tre’von Robinson said he was “excited to see all the seniors perform so exceptionally after all their hard work in the classroom.”
The hour long recital featured the entire advanced piano class and four solos, two duets, and four quartets. The quartets included the Scot Joplin Rag Rhapsody, Champagne Toccata, and the Moldau.
For senior Phoebe Hao, ten years of practice and performing paid off, as she played throughout the entire recital, including a Debussy piece.
Hao ended up enjoying “every performance of the recital,” and was excited that her years of practice did allow her to achieve perfection on Friday night.
As an encore, the quartet premiered Damian Nguyen’s arrangement of Rhapsody of Blue for melodica and six hands
“It was an honor and a privilege to be part of the quartet, especially since this was my first year in Poly’s piano program, and I am so proud that we are the first at Poly to have a piano quartet recital separate from the annual recitals that the piano classes have,” said Nguyen.i

On Thursday, May 21, the Spring Vocal Concert was held at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University in Long Beach.
The concert began at 6:30 p.m. and featured the Chorale, Cecilian, Chamber, Jazz I, and Jazz II singers. Past alumni singers also joined in at the end of a beautiful concert.
The night started off with Chorale performing “Can’t Take That Away From Me,” “Kyrie,” and “Dead Men’s Bones.” Both Sabrina Thiem and Thomas Fleming gave beautiful solos during “Kyrie.” Their music had soulful undertones with classic folk songs that brought life to the hall.
The concert then moved on to Cecilian singers, who sang “Down at the River to Pray,” and “Until We Meet Again,” and “L.O.V.E.”
After that Chamber Choir gave beautiful renditions of “All I Ask of You,” “Venez et Chantez les Louanges,” “Snami Bog,” and “Tanzen und Springen (Gagliarda).” These songs brought the music of many different cultures to the stage, including French, German, and Russian.
Jazz II then took the stage with “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” “Unforgettable,” and “Moonglow.” During “Dream a Little Dream of Me” Nina Hodjat gave an angelic solo, and Mia Grayson and Dylan Stump also had lovely solos during “Unforgettable.”
Finally, Jazz I performed “Joy,” and “Come Sunday,” with almost every esteemed member giving a solo performance at some point.
The night closed with Chamber Choir and Alumni singing “And So It Goes,” with Matt Oca’s touching solo highlighting the song.
The last concert of the year sent many senior singers home with fond memories of their time in Poly’s music department.

Feeling like a mad scientist’s ethereal fever dream, the Museum of Jurassic Technology is one of the most wonderfully weird places in Los Angeles.
There, inside of an understated little building, lies one of the strangest collections of curiosities and oddities in all of California.
The exhibits bear no singular category. In one room, microscopic painting made from butterfly wings fill case after case. In another, a series of superstitions are displayed alongside artifacts important to such beliefs, like a baby’s tooth or a vial of urine. And in another, miniature trailer parks line an ominously dark room.
However, the last room is by far the most memorable. Immediately preceded by a room of astronaut dog portraits and a movie beyond all description is a very simple space containing three things: tea, a couple a of chairs, and the sweetest puppy man shall ever pet.
Within all the things this museum presents, the most prominent are its questions: What is this? Is it a social experiment? An elaborate piece of performance art? Just one big joke? Hours of exploration, copious notes, and excessive patience could begin to answer these questions.
However, if you’re simply interested in an absurd evening of pure mystery, there is no other place to go but the Museum of Jurassic Technology.