Melissa Russell
It’s been a tradition for 50 years at Belmont High School: ending the school year with a festival of popular music uniting all the school’s bands, orchestras, and choruses. This year’s Pops Concert is special, not only because it celebrates the half-century milestone but also because it celebrates the students who grew as musicians during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Allison Lacasse, director of bands at BHS, reflected on the journey of the students she has worked with for the past four years. Their school experience as a whole was affected during their freshman year, which was overshadowed by the first year of the pandemic.
“In the past five years, it’s been quite a journey with performing arts, and these are the last groups that could come together safely,” she said.
For senior tuba player Ellie Lesser, the Pops Concert represents a bittersweet end to a music career that has been part of her life since third grade.
“When I was younger, I remember going to BHS concerts and being mesmerized by the professionalism, pride, and dedication on the stage,” she said. “To be in that position now, having the opportunity to give back to the community, is an incredible thing.”
During Lesser’s freshman year in 2020, students couldn’t play in the ensemble because of COVID-19, so Lacasse had students choose a research project about music. Lesser chose to study the intersection of music and medicine, and in the process, she learned about neuroscience, psychology, and music.
“I learned a lot,” she said.
“These students love their instruments, but what means the most [to them] is the community they are part of,” Lacasse said. “When they get in as freshmen, they get to go on a journey and feel part of something bigger than themselves. There’s a lot of pride.”
The orchestra and wind ensemble will perform excerpts from the score of the film “The Greatest Showman,” which Lesser called “a great way to close my music career at Belmont High.”
“It says a lot about the power of music and performing and connections to the audience; how music makes society a better place,” she said.
The program will also feature music from Dolly Parton, Lana Del Ray, One Direction, Abba, and the Spice Girls, and selections from films including “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Les Misérables,” “La La Land,” and “West Side Story.”
Orchestra leader Margot Reavey called this year’s seniors “a fantastic group of kids who have really strong musical skills.”
“The Pops Concert is always a lot of fun and is a nice way to wrap up performances for the year,” she said.
Lesser will attend the University of Vermont next fall. She encourages younger students to continue their music careers in the Belmont schools.
“Being a member of the music department of Belmont High School transformed me as a student musician and as an overall person,” she said. “I met incredible people, wonderful clinicians, directors, and conductors. It was a truly wonderful experience.”
Lacasse said, “As a teacher and performing artist myself, I am thinking how fortunate I am that I get to do what I do with the students and faculty of Belmont. This is a celebration of months and years of hard work, with parents supporting kids through music education since the beginning. I hope people can … witness what I’m seeing: kids creating the greatest art they can.”
BHS Pops Concerts will be held at Belmont High School on Thursday, April 25, and Friday, April 26. They will be followed by a dessert reception.
Tickets are available at pomsbelmont.booktix.com/. Proceeds benefit POMS (Parents of Music Students), the booster organization supporting music education for grades K–12 in the Belmont Public Schools.
