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Spring band concert gets everyone involved

The Middle School Band celebrated its eighth-grade members and offered a surprise welcome to the Class of 2024 during a lively and fun spring concert featuring American songs and composers that got everyone – literally, everyone – involved.
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The Beginning Band started the evening with a selection of songs that included a sing-a-long to "Take Me Out the Ballgame." Band director Cathi Leibinger donned a Chicago Cubs cap and invited three newly admitted members of the Class of 2024 – currently fifth graders at local elementary schools – to the stage. She handed the wide-eyed incoming RE students bags of Cracker Jack and asked them to lead the singing.
 
The audience responded, offering a full-throttle rendition as the band members – many also wearing baseball caps – played in the background.
 
The concert also featured an entertaining trombone-only piece as the members of the school's Midde School Trombone Club – Parker D'Alemberte '23, Jackson Pegg '23, Ricardo Sucre Gil '23, Grant Pfeiffer '22, Daniel Ribiero '23 and Shuli Rosenfeld '21 – assembled on stage to play "Dem Bones." They were joined by Luca Gonzalez-Abreu '18, who has led the Monday club and helped tutor the younger students.
 
The Concert Band also delighted the crowd with its final number, “The Red, the White and the Blues,” which was a favorite of many in attendance.
 
Another highlight: the performance by the recently formed Jazz Combo of Connor Munroe '21 on saxophone, Jackson Mopsick '21 on electric guitar, Bradley Karmin '21 on electric bass and Kyle Pearson '21 on drums; they entertained with "Harlem Nocturne" and "C Jam Blues."
 
Leibinger recognized every eighth-grade student by name after the Concert Band and Symphonic Band each offered increasingly complex renditions of American favorites. Munroe took the opportunity to step to the microphone to thank Leibinger for developing and inspiring her students, and teaching them to love and appreciate music. "Thank you for laying the foundation for us," he said.
 
The finale featured the entire MS Band – more than 60 members – on stage for "Dancin' on the Bayou." Some played their customary instruments, while others grabbed more unusual ones, including glass jugs, washboards and metal tubs. Faculty member Greg Siegler made a cameo appearance for the piece, joining the band to play his ... washboard tie.
 
"This has been a great year," Leibinger said. "This is a very strong group."
 
The Middle School Band
 
Beginning Band
 
Flute
Laura Teofilo '23
Lena Zide '23
 
Oboe
Ben Gomez '23
 
Clarinet
Rogelio Munoz-Franco '23
Victor Perez '23
Lorenzo Ramirez de Arellano '23
Jake Rivero-Aleman '23
Kathryn Serra '23
 
Alto Saxophone
Parker Alhadeff '23
Alexandra Boord '23
Brendan Dyke '23
Kobe Lopez '23
Trent Mopsick '23
 
Trumpet
Eleonora Cavallini '23
Sebastian Daire '23
John Devaney '23
Nicky Goldberg '23
Tucker Gumenick '23
Tiziano Habsburg-Lothringen '23
Nico Sosa '23
Maxwell Wolfe '23
 
Horn
Alec Garcia-Caceres '23
Tanner Pearson '23
Malena Tewari '23
 
Trombone
Parker D’Alemberte '23
Jackson Pegg '23
Ricardo Sucre Gil '23
 
Euphonium
Ryan Courey '23
Jack Harris '23
Gabriel Menendez de Alencar '23
Coren O’Brien '23
 
Tuba
Jonathan Pollak '23
Christian Sosa '23
 
Bass
Kyler Pace '23

Concert Band
 
Flute
Nika Kazumyan '22
 
Clarinet
Gaurav Gajavelli '22
 
Alto Saxophone
Carson Stanton-Sharpless '23
 
Tenor Saxophone
Alex Arbide '22
 
Baritone Saxophone
Jarrett Howland '22
 
Trumpet
Isabella Goyanes '22
Mattias Levy-Armesto '22
Zach Marcus '22
Paolo Rebessi '23
Gideon Shaked '22
 
Horn
David Dubovy '22
Luke Sahs '22
 
Trombone
Grant Pfeiffer '22
Daniel Ribiero '23
 
Euphonium
Jan Trauer '22
 
Tuba
Jasper Broad '22
 
Percussion
Max Bast '23
 
Symphonic Band
 
Flute
Connor Munroe '21
Nicolas Stone-Perez '21
 
Clarinet
Martina Awad '21
Wirth Munroe '22
Andy O’Brien '22
 
Bass Clarinet
Josh Buttrick '22
 
Alto Saxophone
Daniel Fisher '21
Maximilian Swietelsky '21
 
Trumpet
Mario Cruz '22
Connor Prescott '21
Jayden Vrins '21
 
Horn
Jonah Bennett '21
 
Trombone
Shuli Rosenfeld '21
 
Euphonium
Magnus Oberg '21
 
Tuba
Zoey Weiss '21
 
Bass
Bradley Karmin '21
 
Percussion
Jackson Mopsick '21
Kyle Pearson '21
 
Band Director
Cathi Leibinger
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Middle School

2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Phone: 305 250 6850

Upper School

3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.