Holiday concerts follow fundraising success

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Dylan Nourse

The 2022-2023 marching band poses during the first day of band camp last summer.

Gabriel Cohen, the band director at Concord High School and performing arts coordinator for Concord School District, had a love for music growing up.

“I was drawn to it because it was like the hardest thing that I had to do. Like it was just always a challenge,” he said.

One of the challenges Cohen loves about teaching music is how active it is. 

“I don’t think I could teach it like social studies. I’m always moving around. And we’re doing stuff and teaching people how to do something, not about something.”

Challenges extend beyond the classroom.

In addition to teaching, Cohen is responsible for organizing fundraisers and events for the music department.

One annual fundraiser, the mattress sale, helps allow students to go on fun but costly trips. 

This year’s mattress sale took place Saturday, Nov. 12, in the CHS gymnasium.

“It went very well,” Cohen said. “We sold 40 mattresses. We made over $7,500 as a department. That’s about average. I was hoping to do a little bit better.”

 With fundraising done for now, attention now turns to performances, including tonight’s concert by the band, orchestra and choir at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Main Street.

The concert starts at 6:30 p.m. Admission costs $5.

The chamber choir, chamber orchestra and jazz band will perform Thursday, Dec. 15, at the City Auditorium on Prince Street. That show also begins at 6:30 p.m. and costs $5 at the door.