For Mrs. Mianulli’s (Mia’s) last concert as director of the Nashoba choirs, she decided that she wanted to “go out with a bang,” and she did exactly that. On May 15th at 7P.m., the school auditorium was packed with students, parents, and returning choir alumni to celebrate her last concert at Nashoba.

The concert began with the Concert Choir performing “The Star Spangled Banner” and “The Rose” by Bette Midler. Following their performance, the first senior solo kicked off with Zach Weber, one of the six seniors who were involved with Nashoba Choirs. In honor of their last concert, it is tradition for each senior to have the opportunity to perform an entire song themselves, showcasing their talent.

Weber’s solo led into one of the hits of the evening: The Best Buddies Pops Choir. The Best Buddies performed “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley and “Firework” by Katy Perry. The audience was filled with enthusiasm and they even sang along. Following the Best Buddies Pops Choir, senior John Atkinson performed his senior solo, and led the concert into a performance by the Broadway Women’s Ensemble.

The Broadway Women’s Ensemble performed a medley from “Les Miserables.” The performance was simply magnificent, featuring many soloists including (in order of appearance) Gwen Burke, Alicia Burrows, Erin Alzapiedi, Kayla Lawlor, Elyssa Jewett, Olivia Ek, Julia Thier, Maria Guerin, Toni Day, Brooke Winsmann, and Jackie Cannon. After a stunning first half of the concert, the audience took a break for intermission.

Succeeding intermission, the second half of the concert began with The Chieftones: Nashoba’s A Capella Club directed by math teacher, Miss Egan. The Chieftones performed “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley and did an outstanding job. Next, Lish Ventura performed her senior solo. Afterwards, The Mixed Chamber Choir performed a medley of pieces from the musical “The Phantom of the Opera.” Soloists in the Chamber Choir included Julia Wachtel, Kevin Cote, Izzy Tanashian, Carson Bond, and Tyler Plaskon. The piece wowed the audience with the brilliantly arranged medley.

Following “Phantom,” the last two senior soloists of the night performed: Tyler Plaskon and Lyndsey Hawkes. All of the senior soloists performed amazingly, bringing tears into the eyes of audience members and fellow singers alike.

Nearing the end of the concert, the Concert Choir performed choral highlights from the classic musical, “Wicked.” Soloists in the Concert Choir included Alexis Ventura, Hannah Honig, Hayley Giovinazzo, Catherine Smith, Marianna Sardella, Abby Recko, and Lily Sartorius. Finally, to conclude the program, all members of Nashoba Choirs AND returning alumni got on stage to perform “Amazing Grace,” which is performed at graduation every year. Every choir member is required to learn their part and sing at graduation, so returning alumni would not forget their part over the years. The performance was wonderful and brought the audience to tears. Mia took her “final bow” in front of the stage, but the show was not quite over yet.

Concert Choir added a surprise at the end of the concert to honor Mia by singing the song was “For Good” from Wicked. Each Concert Choir member had a short solo in the song, and after singing their solos they gave Mia a flower, and most of them gave her a big hug too. And for those who weren’t already crying, they were at this point.

Overall, the concert was quite a success and will definitely be remembered. As Mia put it in an email she sent out to Friends of Music, the parent organization surrounding the music programs at Nashoba, “There were three of the most important days of my life that I will never forget; the day I got married, the day [my daughter] Molly came, and Friday night.” It was a bittersweet end to an extremely eventful run. Thank you Mia for twenty one years here at Nashoba!