NHS, CMS celebrates talent at Pops Night Concert
Big crowd this year
On Friday, May 8, at 7 p.m., about 250 community members, including friends and family of musicians from Norwood High School (NHS) and Coakley Middle School (CMS), gathered in the former school’s gym for the annual Pops Night concert, which celebrated the musicians’ talents and recognized them with awards and scholarships that supported their musical journeys.
The Norwood Parents Music Association (PMA), an organization that has supported music education and related extracurricular programs in Norwood Public Schools since 1974, organized the night. The concert is one event the association organizes to raise funds to support its programs for students.
“This event is an achievement of the year and celebrates the community of Norwood,” noted organizer Dany Abdallah, who serves as treasurer of the PMA.
This year’s concert also featured the return of musicians from CMS, who last played at the concert in 2019. According to Abdallah, there were openings for Coakley students to play in this year’s concert to complement the high school students.
Parents, like Christine Frithsen, said they enjoyed seeing their children perform in front of the community. Her son, Matt, played trombone in the concert band section.
“He began in high school band, and Mr. Conant (Norwood Band Director Steve Conant) asked him if he wanted to participate in the extracurricular jazz band group,” which led, she said, to Matt performing in the concert. Matt practiced for two or three days a week for the past two months, Christine explained.
Students showcased their talents in different musical performances, including a concert band, an orchestra, a concert chorale, a jazz ensemble and the madrigals, which featured students singing a cappella. The students performed songs from different genres, including a medley of Disney on Broadway songs from the concert chorale and different Ozzy Ozborne songs from the concert band and orchestra.
“We wanted to include more contemporary music,” noted Jeff Kerr, NPS Director of Fine Arts. Kerr added that the music pieces reflect “how teachers can connect with students to express their creativity.”
During the concert, Conant explained to the audience the Ozzy Ozborne songs were performed to pay tribute to him after his death last July. Conant said he forged connections with students by leading an orchestral composition called “Bonus Level,” which was inspired by video game music from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras of the 1980s and 1990s.
Additionally, the One Bow Concerto, where four musicians share the same bow to play different string instruments, returned for the first time since 2023. The performance, which was previously performed with only senior class musicians, included sophomore Charlotte Murphy, a member of the NHS class of 2028.
At the midway point of the concert, the PMA recognized some students with awards and a total of $5,250 in scholarships. One of the students, senior Ryan Needham, who played the chimes in the orchestra and in the OverTones segments, won a $600 PMA scholarship and the John Philip Sousa Band award. Ryan’s grandparents and parents were in the audience to support him.
“Ryan’s been in the band and a couple of plays. He also sang in a cappella,” explained his grandfather Chuck Polechronis of Norwood. Polechronis added that Ryan will study business at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Eisenberg School of Management this fall with a focus on theater management.
The concert raised $3,000 to support the PMA. The organizers are looking for additional volunteers and support. For example, on Thursday, May 14 at 6 p.m., the organization will host a Night Out at Top Golf in Canton, and they will also host a car wash in the downtown municipal lot on Saturday, May 16.
“These will keep the music programs going to give young musicians a chance to play,” noted Abdallah and event organizer Siuyien Mathews, the PMA’s vice president. “We hope the tradition continues,” Abdallah added, “with more commitment from musicians and parents.”
For more information, go to https://norwoodpma.org
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