Prism Concert Wows Crowd at Parkway Central

Parkway Central High School was alive with energy Tuesday as students performed the annual Prism Concert, an event featuring every musical group taught at the school.

Thirty percent of the student body belongs to at least one of the bands, orchestras and choirs.

Eager family members and others lined up well before the doors opened Tuesday evening, to grab the front row seats. They were rewarded with an evening of songs, instrumentals, and a dance number or two. 

Highlights included:

• Parkway Central Strings led by orchestra director, Winifred Crock, opened the show with a beautiful, mellow arrangement of our national anthem.

• The Concert Band, directed by Doug Hoover, performed the jazzy Brandenburg Gate, à la Dave Brubeck.

• The Men’s Vocal Ensemble, performing a cappella, brought cheers from the audience with the tune Blue Moon by Rogers and Hart. 

• Christopher Wang performed Concerto in G Major for Oboe and received the standing ovation of the evening.

For the finale, Central’s Marching Colts band took the audience by surprise when it entered the theater at the back, parading down the aisles with brass blaring and drums thumping to the tune Coyote Angel.

Parkway Central’s music program received a Grammy Gold Signature Award from the Grammy Foundation in 2000 and 2006. The award is presented to Top Ten high school music departments nationwide.

Students from the Parkway programs are found in district and state solo and ensemble contests, Saint Louis Youth Symphony, Wind Ensemble and Children’s™ Choir.

Typically, every year at least ten students are selected as All-State musicians in a rigorous competition-audition.