The sounds of music

WARWICK — The Warwick Valley High School Music Department will present its 12th annual Pops Concert at the Theatre at WVHS on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m.

As it does every year, the Pops Concert will feature a guest artist to play with the student musicians. These musicians have a variety of musical backgrounds including touring the world with jazz orchestras, Broadway, and military bands.

Past artists have included pianist Richard Kimball; trumpeters Tony Kadleck and Jon Owens; saxophonist Tom Christensen; clarinetist and conductor David Dworkin; oboist James Mullins; and the Jazz Knights from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Trombonist Barry CooperThis year, the music department welcomes trombonist Barry Cooper.

Cooper, who grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., attended the New School in New York City where he studied under jazz master Benny Powell. He has played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, The Young Titans of Jazz and the Count Basie Orchestra. Cooper has travelled the world and played at such concert halls as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City and Bunkyo Civic Hall in Japan.

Cooper has also recorded CDs as well as a live DVD at Birdland in New York City. He has played with Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Liz Wright, Dianne Schuur, Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, Jon Hendricks and the Charles Tolliver Orchestra.

He is currently a member of the United States Military Academy West Point Band.

The programCooper will be featured with the WVHS Jazz Band and Honors Wind Ensemble, both under the direction of Chris Persad.

Cooper will be playing Paul Baker's "The Mudbug Strut" with the Jazz Band, and a spiritual, "That Old Time Religion," with the Honors Wind Ensemble.

The Jazz Band will also feature the WVHS Women's Choir in "Satin Doll."

The Wind Ensemble will play selections from The Incredibles.

More than 200 student musicians will be participating in the Pops Concert:

The Concert Band will play a piece highlighting Pixar movie "Magic."

Select musicians from the Wind Ensemble will join the Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Keely Blaikner, for "Forest Gump Suite."

The select choral ensemble, the WVHS Meistersingers, under the direction of Noreen Hanson, will join the Chamber Orchestra for "The Sunrise from Ola Gjeilo's Sunrise Mass."

Essential informationThe concert is open to the public and presented free of charge.

The snow date is Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m.