NORTHFIELD – From the start of each school year through May, Pioneer Valley Regional School’s middle school and high school concert band and chorus strive to enhance their skills, all in preparation to play and sing before the community.
The 13th annual Pops Concert, which will be held Friday at 6 p.m. in Pioneer’s gymnasium, serves as “a showcase of all the musical talents at Pioneer,” according to Band Director Nathan Holesovsky.
The program, Holesovsky said, features music by the middle school band and chorus, followed by solo and small group performances, the marching band, and then the high school band and chorus.
“We try to play familiar, recognizable selections,” Holesovsky said, providing a song list that includes music from “The Jungle Book,” Cirque du Soleil, familiar broadway music, “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge and a tribute to singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen.
Holesovsky explained the gym fills with 60 tables, which always sell out. Finger foods and coffee are available, and attendees can purchase baked goods and raffle tickets to win a variety of donated prizes.
More than one-quarter of Pioneer’s student population will participate.
“We have about 130 kids involved,” Holesovsky said. “We’re pretty proud of the number of kids, the percentage of the student body, that are all about music.”
The Pops Concert serves as the bands’ and choruses’ primary fundraiser each year, regularly raising an average of $5,000, Holesovsky said. General admission is $8, though tickets are $5 for students and senior citizens.
“I would say it’s the largest attended event, outside of maybe graduation,” he said. “It’s really important, when budgets are getting smaller, that the community supports us.”
Supporting the Pioneer middle school and high school band and chorus attracts many of the attendees, Holesovsky continued.
“They’re supporting the music, they’re supporting the students, allowing us to buy instruments and uniforms, paying for busing,” he said. “They know what the payoff is.”