Our NOVA Knighthawks Jazz Ensemble rocked the house with Afro Blue, Tico Tico and Manteca.

They knocked our socks off!!!!!!!

Jazz Director, John Kocur,  has been working with the ensemble all semester and boy did they shine!

The NOVA Community Chorus followed with Ride on, King Jesus. Choral Director Chad Steffey and our accompanist Anita Ferguson have supported the Choir all year.  The Chorus was lovely; every piece.

Ralph Vaughan Williams, O’ Clap Your Hands was conducted by Lisa Eckstein.

John Kocur accompanied the Chorus’ Evening Prayer  on his soprano Saxophone.  It was truly a stunningly beautiful piece.

The NOVA Alexandria Band did four works:

Puszta: Four Gipsy Dances, Danzon No. 2, Viva Italia! and Berstein’s Mambo.

One of the best moments of the night were the student awards.  The Billy Award, named after Bill Bovender was awarded to Judy Bendig.  The Betty Award was awarded to Elizabeth Todd.

But that wasn’t the only great moment.  We also had Anthony Maiello, The Artistic Director and Conductor of the American Festival Pops Orchestra and Artistic Director of the School of Music at George Mason.

His Accordion performance on Viva Italia was a show stopper!

We were incredibly lucky to have him.

A phenomenal concert!  We look forward to seeing you all next Fall, for our 2018/19 season!  Until then, our students have recitals, juries and exams to contend with, and thanks to those who donated at our concerts this year, they have incredible opportunities ahead!

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Blog Post by Brit Conley: Assistant to the Music Department.