On Friday, Dec. 4, the entire band, including Jazz I and II, performed their annual Rhapsody in Blue concert with songs such as Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” and Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

“I don’t think there has ever been a better [Rhapsody in Blue] while I’ve been at Hagerty,” senior and tenor saxophone player Joseph Conigliaro said.

For the first song, Jazz I performed Louis Prima’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” but with a little twist. While the drummer, freshman Jakob Schoenfeld, continued to play, the ensemble put aside their instruments, swung their jackets over their shoulders, and walked off stage with smiles to appear as if they had gone out for drinks before they came back and concluded the song.

The band also played John Barry’s “007,” which was performed behind the audience and the Christmas classic “First Noel” before the saxophones gathered to play “Uptown Funk.”

“[Uptown Funk] was the hardest because it was something that the saxophone section did independently,” junior Cassie Arrigo said. “We had to work on it to make sure it sounded good and stayed together.”

A majority of the performances were played at random places in the auditorium such as the side walkway, in front of the exit doors, on the floor in front of the audience and the stage. According to band director Brad Kuperman, the arrangements were done completely by the students.

During the intermission, Conigliaro came out into a single spotlight and passionately told the audience about the Fourth of July celebration that was about to happen while senior Callum James came out and told him it was Dec. 4, and not July 4 while the audience laughed.

“I definitely knew going into senior year that I wanted to do the intermission skit,” Conigliaro said. “My friends from previous years had done it and they had so much fun with it.”

To start off the second act, Jazz I performed Richard B. Smith’s “Winter Wonderland” on the floor in front of the audience and the band performed John Williams’s “Harry Potter” medley behind the audience in witch hats.

After “Harry Potter,” percussion brought out several trashcans and performed Chris Crockarell and Chris Brooks’s “Bucket Beats”, the complex reminiscent of the famous “Stomp” that featured students from drumline and then followed with songs like Koji Kondo’s “Super Mario Brothers” and Frank Loesser’s “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” sung by theatre teacher Trevor Southworth and chorus teacher Victoria Rathbun.

To bring the concert to an end, the trombones performed the “Star Wars” medley, also composed by John Williams, behind the audience near the exit doors before going back to the stage to play the Christmas classic “Jingle Bells.”

While the lights came on and people were getting ready to leave, the band came out for one last performance. “The Wizard Of Oz,” that is most seen at halftime at the football games, was performed by the entire marching band and students spread throughout the auditorium to deliver the full Rhapsody in Blue experience.

“I loved hearing [them] practice [the show] and the final product was indescribable,” Arrigo said.