Keigwin Winter Concert: Monday, December 6 at 7pm at MHS Theater

The Keigwin Winter Concert will be held in the MHS Theater on Monday, December 6 at 7pm. The concert will feature the Keigwin Strings, Chorus and Band. Tickets are $2 each and the performance will conclude by 8:15pm.

Commentary:

A friend of mine asked me the other day if I've ever heard of parents having to pay to attend a band concert for their own children. As I paused to consider my own band concert history (an extensive one from 5th grade all the way through high school and into college), I had to tell her no. Then again, I'm not from Connecticut, and when I was in band (OK that was mid 80s to early 90s), there was still plenty of budget money for things like music, student activities, sports, etc. Anyway, I decided to ask Keigwin Band Director Dave Daddario about his program.

Daddario, in his 31st year as band director, reported that it was a Music Department/Keigwin Administration policy when he first began teaching at Keigwin to charge $1.50 per ticket for admission to combined concerts for Band, Strings and Chorus. As the number of participants in the music program began to increase, however, the concert had to be split into separate nights to accommodate the Fire Marshall's concerns about attendance numbers and parking. The ticket price was then lowered to $1 each because of the multiple concert nights.

Student participation waxed and waned over the years: the band out-grew the stage and moved to the gym, the string program was cut, choral numbers declined to the point that both groups could perform on the same night, and so on.

For the last two years, thanks to the proximity of the new MHS Theater, Keigwin Band, String and Chorus members get to walk over to MHS to perform. Their equipment is transported by the school's maintenance department, and there is finally plenty of space on the stage as well as ample audience seating and parking.

Last year, the Keigwin Music Department was directed to increase its ticket price to mirror Music and Drama performances at Woodrow Wilson and MHS. The money generated from these ticket sales is split between the three Keigwin music groups, and is used to help pay for replacement sheet music, equipment and repairs. It also has to pay for MHS security for parking/directing help during the concert and use of the MHS Theater.