Members of Mercersburg Academy’s Jazz Band, String Ensemble, and the school’s a cappella groups (Octet and Magalia) will take the stage for the Spring Pops Concert Friday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the Burgin Center for the Arts’ Simon Theatre. The performance is free and open to the public, and all are invited to attend.

The Jazz Band, directed by Shami Beni, will perform a selection of popular jazz standards, along with a well-known tune by Stevie Wonder. “My hope is that as students and audiences are exposed to more jazz standards, they begin to recognize just how familiar and exciting this music really is,” says Beni. 

“I am incredibly proud of the Jazz Band. I challenged them to truly learn and understand the music they are performing, and they rose to that challenge with confidence and skill. This is especially meaningful given how many new members we have this year, including a large group of freshmen. They have done an outstanding job meeting the expectations and embracing the music. Hope everyone enjoys it!”

The String Ensemble, under the direction of Michael Cameron P ’26, will begin with an arrangement of music from John Williams’ film score of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 masterpiece Schindler’s List. “It is deeply moving music, and our group’s concertmaster, Lisa Wei ’26, will be the featured soloist,” says Cameron. “​​I am immensely proud of all of the members of the Academy String Ensemble. They take their individual tasks very seriously, and I am deeply impressed in regards to how far they have come in their collective ability to listen to each other.”

Rounding out the performances, the Octet, Mercersburg’s original a cappella group founded before the school was co-ed, and the Magalia, Mercersburg’s a cappella group for treble singers, will both take the stage. They will combine to present “Mr. Blue Sky” as the Magtet. James Brinson, who directs the a cappella groups, says he has been particularly impressed with the Octet this year. Usually a group of eight, he says, “the Octet has really been a dedicated group with only five singers. They have worked hard all year.”

Students will present A Midsummer Night’s Dream Friday and Saturday, May 1 and 2, in the Boys’ Garden on campus. To see more upcoming events, visit this page of the school’s website.