Bardstown High School continued its 10-year run of coffeehouse performances with 20 creative students and teachers showcasing their talents Monday night.
From the soothing melodies of the flute to the smooth jazz of the saxophone, BHS's annual Coffee House offered a sample of the community's full range of talent and musical ability. Band director and event organizer Matthew Brown said the Feb. 12 event is always a great place for students to highlight their talents that might not be showcased in the classroom.
“It's an opportunity for high school students to showcase their talents that maybe don't show up in the classroom or on the field,” he says. “I tend to use a lot of band students as stand-ins, but we also invite faculty, staff, and students to present poems, recite poetry, play music, give speeches and plays. We try to find another creative outlet for the creative people in our school.”
Monday night's performance drew many students and teachers to the BHS Media Center to showcase their musical talents. Brown said there were no poetry or speech performances this year due to changes to the original schedule and continued absences. BHS band students were able to take the metaphorical stage and perform as soloists, much to their dismay.
“I'd like to think there's no pressure, but they still have an audience,” Brown said of their tension. “It's just the classmates and their parents. They're not being judged. There's no criticism, there's no evaluation. And again, it has to be on friendly terms. I want this to be a low-stress event. We want this to be an opportunity for them to share their talent and their music.”
The musical talents of BHS students were highlighted across a number of instruments including flute, clarinet, trumpet, snare drum and trombone.
For this year's Coffee House performance, two staffers joined in on a late-night music session by Isaac Klum and Brian Kellem. Crum played soulful original songs on the keyboard in front of crowds of students and parents, and said the last time he performed at a coffee house was 10 years ago when he was a student.
The Kellem native and his son, Bardstown Middle School sixth grader Henry Kellem, performed the 1980s Men at Work classic “Who Can it be Now?” Brian also brought out his family friend Kim Fisher to play saxophone. Brian played guitar and Henry played drums.
Henry said he and his father perform almost every year and look forward to it. He is currently a member of his 6th grade band at BMS, is a mostly self-taught performer, and Henry boasts that he probably has 10 years of drumming experience.
“We're so proud of him because he's pretty much self-taught,” Brian said. “It’s amazing what the PS2 Rock Band has on kids. We got him interested in drums, and from there he got interested in drums. …He was only 12 years old. And the future is bright. I'm very excited. He also performs in church every week. He's a working musician at the moment.”
