Scene & Heard

At Spring Jam, young ‘stars’ make music ’til stars come out

Katie Culp (left), Katie Allison (right) and Wyatt Petrasek (on drums) perform the My Chemical Romance song, ”Summertime” during the Creswell High School music department’s annual outdoor Spring Jam. Gini Davis/The Creswell Chronicle

A wide range of musical influences including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Elton John, Toto, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and alternative artists My Chemical Romance and 21 Pilots informed the performances by talented student musicians and vocalists during Creswell High School’s annual Spring Jam, held outdoors in the CHS courtyard on May 31.
The event wrapped a busy week that included the CHS Spring Concert and Awards Night on May 28 and the CHS Talent Show (see sidebar) on May 29.
Some concert and talent show selections reached an appreciative new audience through their Spring Jam encores, including senior Katie Culp’s performance of her original song, the alt-rock-inspired ”My Turn,” which drew praise for her voice and lyrics, both exhibiting a maturity beyond her 17 years.
”She has the kind of voice I would want to listen to,” audience member Elizabeth Moehlmann said after the performance. ”I’m sure she’ll go far.”
Under Music Director Sandi Green, the CHS Concert Band opened Spring Jam with ”Firebrand March” and the Toto song, ”Africa.”
Jazz Band 2 performed ”Sway,” ”Moondance” and ”Feelin’ Good,” which featured a vocal solo by Jekay Bosisto.
State Jazz division-winning Jazz Band 1 performed ”A Country Boy,” with soloists Destin Halvorson on sax and Brandon Moehlmann on trombone and ”Faith,” with solos by Gonzalo Cardenas, Josiah Lee and Moehlmann.
The bands then ceded the lovely, warm evening to individual and small-group acts. Up first was Lily Lamm, strumming ukulele and singing the Phillip Phillips song, ”Gone, Gone, Gone.”
Accompanied by Jackson Velarde on keyboard, Chalyn Michaelson sang the Elvis classic, ”Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
Katie McKillop sang the Elton John/Bernie Taupin hit, ”Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road,” accompanied by Isaac Pinkerton on keyboard.
Halvorson and Bosisto sang a mashup of Johnny Cash’s ”You Are My Sunshine” and ”I Walk the Line,” backed by Zach Schmidt on guitar.
Bosisto played keyboard and sang ”Always Remember Us This Way,” performed by Lady Gaga in the 2018 movie ”A Star is Born.”
Vocalists Halvorson and Amy Myers, with Abby Mercer on keyboard covered the Ariana Grande song, ”Almost is Never Enough.”
As twilight descended, the electric guitars came out. Culp, Katie Allison and Wyatt Petrasek performed ”Summertime,” by My Chemical Romance (MCR), with Culp and Allison on electric guitars and Petracek on drums; then Culp and Andrew Spriggs, with Allison on electric guitar and Petrasek on drums performed a gritty mashup of the Twenty One Pilots songs, ”My Blood” and ”Chlorine.”
Culp then played keyboard and sang her original song before ”the boys” – trombonists Joshua Jenkins, Lee, Hugo Taura, Cardenas and Moehlmann – closed Spring Jam with ”Coco.”
”This piece was transcribed by Gonzalo from a trumpet piece to a trombone piece, and the boys worked on this independently during lunches and after school,” noted Creswell Music Boosters President Mandy Hoggard.
Green said Spring Jam is always one of her favorite music events of the year.
”It was such a gorgeous evening – one of the most beautiful nights we’ve had for this event, for sure,” Green said. ”It’s always so much fun to have it outdoors and see what the students come up with and practice on their own.”

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