The LHS music department held their 20th annual PRISM Concert this past Saturday. The concert, held in the school cafeteria, showcased numerous musically talented students performing a variety of different genres of music.
These performances were done by members of the orchestra, chorus, and jazz ensemble as well as other students who auditioned to be showcased in the concert.
“This year there were 50 different groups that auditioned for us,” LHS music director Serge Beaulieu said. “We had to narrow that down to about 25 groups so that we can keep the time limit for the performance down.”
The students helped to convert the LHS cafeteria into a makeshift theater with two separate stages in order to transition from performance to performance smoothly.
“A good amount of work goes into setting the cafeteria up to look like a theater,” LHS music director Danielle Loschiavo said. “We set up the curtains and window blockings, as well as stages and risers on Friday after school. Then our sound and light technicians come in to set up that equipment.”
Each of the students all had “very strong” performances according to LHS assistant music director Emily Dawson.
“There was a lot of really cool variety to [the] music this year,” Dawson said. “The music students picked had different genres. I think what the kids did this year was really cool.”
With every year of PRISM there will always be familiar faces who performed for most of their high school career putting on their final performance. Senior Kelly Egan has been doing PRISM for the past three years and this has been her final performance for the show.
“This year was different because it’s my last one so it felt more sentimental,” Egan said. “I liked spending one last year spending time with my friends and watching them sing.”
The performers weren’t the only students that shined during PRISM. Beaulieu expresses how the concert couldn’t have worked so well without all the students helping out behind the scenes.
“We had a fair amount of students do stage crew, help usher, and help out with the food,” Beaulieu said.
Everyone who participated in the PRISM concert all did “very well” in their respective performances.
“I feel like the standard of performance was at a higher level this year,” Dawson said. “The kids just came in and knocked it out of the park.”
The PRISM concert will be held next year, and Dawson hopes to have more students attend the show.
“The kids could use more of their friends coming to see them,” Dawson said. “It’s only five bucks for them to come and see but [the performers] could use that support from more than just family.”