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A Two-day “Wow” Moment

By Anonymous
Thizbe Balzer

Dalat International School’s many talented high school musicians, artists, actors, and dancers brought this year’s Fine Arts Festival to a satisfying and legendary close.
On the evenings of Friday, May 20th and Saturday, May 21st, the resonating rumble of eager voices rose as the audience members entered the large auditorium at the Penang Performing Arts Centre (PPAC).  The high school concert band students sat patiently on stage, instruments in hand.  Once given the cue by their instructor, Miss Danneker, to commence the pre-concert warmup regime, a melodious and unified sound penetrated the auditorium and instantaneously put an end to the surrounding chatter.  The two hours that followed were no different.  All of the featured performing ensembles, including the Madrigal Singers, concert band, concert choir, the Five Guys, and jazz band, made for a time filled with many inspiring musical moments. 
In addition to the wonderful music were opportunities that fueled appreciation for other forms of fine art, such as art, drama, and dance.  The art students lined the auditorium entryway with awe-inspiring portraits and intricate canvas drawings which people admired as they passed by.  On Saturday, two showings of the Dalat Drama & Dance Showcase included multiple duet-act plays, featuring seniors Joel Halbedl and Elisabeth Brokaw to name a few.  These were followed by a lyrical ballet dance number. Darby  Kendrick (11), Susan Oh (11), and Thizbe Balzer (12) rose and fell with the music, displaying a great amount of upper body strength and control.  Aaron Chand (11) closed out each show with his solo act entitled “The Twelve Year Truth.”  He brought himself and many audience members to tears during his final performance.
Whether a tear-jerker, musical-expresser, or canvas-drawer, Mr. Steinkamp, to bring close to the final concert on Saturday night, took a moment to sincerely recognize and appreciate the hard work of each and every student involved.  “I don’t know about you, but I must have gone ‘wow!’ at least five times over the course of the last two hours,” he remarked to the audience.  “I found myself forgetting that these were high school students!” 
Similarly, Miss Danneker said she couldn’t have been happier to end her career as a band teacher at Dalat with anyone other than the students she had just led in performance.  “Thank you all for a wonderful final concert tonight!” were her words to the band members afterwards.  “Each one of you played your best, and there were so many musical moments throughout all of our pieces, many of which almost felt surreal.  Seriously, I found myself thinking several times, ‘Are we really playing this live? It sounds too good to be live…’ ”

Evidently, Dalat high school students have harnessed the ability to capture and inspire the hearts of family/staff members and friends through a vast array of “performances” in the fine arts industry; and beyond the scope of Dalat International School lie so many more opportunities for these students to impact the world in a similar way.

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