Fremd band provides festive concert at Friendship Village

It was billed as a holiday concert, when members of Fremd High School's wind symphony - its highest ensemble - came to perform Friday at Friendship Village in Schaumburg.

But even amid spirited holiday selections, the Fremd students and their director, Matt Moore, found a military connection.

Just last spring, Moore led members from all four Fremd bands on a performance trip to Hawaii, including playing at Pearl Harbor.

Next year, he announced, they will travel to San Diego to perform at the Holiday Bowl, and play on the flight deck of the USS Midway, the retired aircraft carrier.

During Friday's concert, they performed selections from Leonard Bernstein's "Candide Suite," which Bernstein himself arranged for the U.S. Marine Band. They ended with a new holiday medley, "Laughing All the Way," published this year and commissioned for the U.S. Air Force band.

Even their lyrical rendition of "Ave Maria," was arranged by German composer Franz Biebl, who served during World War II and had been a prisoner of war for two years.

Fremd senior Dan Brottman of Hoffman Estates opened the piece with a French horn solo, before the rest of the ensemble came in. He, like most of the rest of the band members, will continue to perform in college.

"It's mean to emulate sort of a Gregorian chant," Brottman said of his solo. "Ironically, the text is as important as the music in this version, though we didn't feature it here."

Brottman hopes to major in music composition next year, he said, and consequently he enjoyed playing the piece by Biebl as well as one of his favorites, Leonard Bernstein.

"He's one of the most influential composers of the 20th century," Brottman said.

All of which came as music to the ears of the seniors in the audience that day, who marveled at the students and their musical ability, as well as their interest in such classic literature.

"It's just tremendous," said resident Norbert Ciesil. "It shows you how much young people can learn."

Likewise, Jim Moffett, who had seven children attend Fremd High School, stayed long after the concert ended, still talking about their musicianship.

"The only thing was, it was too short," Moffett quipped.

The concert took place in the facility's new 220-seat Assembly Hall auditorium, overlooking Heron Pond and providing a dramatic focal point as visitors drive over the bridge.

Its acoustics proved to be just as impressive as its design, as the students' music shook the rafters and led audience members give them a standing ovation at the conclusion.

"It just amazes me," said resident Santina Deneen, who worked for 14 years at Schaumburg High School, "what these young people can do."