Music

So picture this: You go to the movies and there is no soundtrack accompanying the film. No music to set the scenes, to enhance the moods, to heighten the suspense. Do you think the impact would be the same as if there were a musical score to guide you from plot point to plot point, from emotional lows to highs, from nerve-wracking action to calm? Not likely. If you have seen any of these films - "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Jaws," "War Horse," "Jurassic Park," "Hook," "JFK," "Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Last Ark" and "Star Wars" - try to imagine what the experience might have been without their music.

Dozens of people clamored around the small stage inside the ballroom at American Legion Post 211 in Funkstown, eager to hear 12-year-old Drake Fignar perform. Skillful beyond their years, Drake and friend Anthony Pappas played “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd before the audience. But also for Drake's father, Jeffrey Scott Fignar, who watched via Skype on a computer resting on a table about 25 feet away. Fignar, who is diabetic, suffered a brain injury and has been paralyzed since a 2011 car accident that threatened his life.

Cancun Cantina West staff is asking anyone 21 or older to participate in a music video from 9 to 11 p.m. Saturday, March 30, at the club, 901 Dual Highway, Hagerstown. The band will play two songs at which time they will ask the crowd members to film the atmosphere and each other. After the filming, band members will ask those participating to send them videos and they will compile one fan made video. For more information, email  mashwork.orange@gmail.com .

For Mark Andrew Cook, music is more than notes on a page. "With music, it's all about the journey and the learning experience," said Cook, 57, director of music theory and composition at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown.  And for Cook, his journey in music started in elementary school. Back then and his friends would get together and play rock music in a band. But his official music career started in his middle school days as a trumpet player for the school band. His band director was his inspiration to pursue music.

New Beginning Full Gospel Church, Martinsburg, W.Va., The Easter Brothers will minister in song and testimony at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 30. St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Williamsport, a concert of special Lenten music will be at 4 p.m. Sunday. The concert will feature area artists and a cantata titled A Time for Alleluia by the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church choir. Free will offering.

Washington County Public Schools was honored for the fourth consecutive year with a Best Communities for Music Education award by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation, a national organization advocating for school-based music education. The award recognizes efforts of teachers, administrators, students and parents to keep music education an integral part of the core curriculum. The school system was one of a record 307 school districts honored across the country.

Susan Herbst said she didn't have a choice about deciding whether to continue with the concerts at Right Choice Ministries, which she founded with her late husband, Winston. “He kind of made that decision for me,” she said. “He made me promise that I would continue it.” Susan Herbst said before her husband's death on Dec. 23, he told her he wanted her to continue with the Hagerstown ministry that provided a place where local teens could gather and listen to clean music in a safe and drug-free environment.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., received the Support Music Award Wednesday for his support of music education in West Virginia. The award was presented in a Capitol Hill ceremony attended by the Shepherdstown (W.Va.) Middle School jazz ensemble, musical artists and other advocates for music education. The West Virginia leaders were each honored by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), VH1 Save The Music Foundation and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

Washington County Public Schools will present the Western Maryland Large Ensemble Assessment Festival at North Hagerstown High School on March 20, 26, 27 and at South Hagerstown High School on March 21 and 22.  The festival will feature and adjudicate music ensembles from every secondary school and a few elementary schools. The music festival will be broken into five days: Wednesday - Middle and high school orchestra assessment at North High  Thursday - Middle school chorus assessment at South High Friday - High school chorus assessment at South High Tuesday, March 26 - High school band assessment at North High Wednesday, March 27 - Middle school band assessment at North High Specific times can be found on the school system website at  www.wcps.k12.md.us/depts_programs/fine_arts/index.html . The festival is an assessment, not a competition.

Seven-year-old Madison Hartman inched forward on the piano bench to reach the keys so she could play “Mulberry Bush” at Saturday's Performathon to benefit the Cumberland Valley School of Music. After giving a flawless performance, the young musician from Shippensburg, Pa., dashed off the stage at Wilson College's Thomson Alumnae Chapel while the crowd still was giving her a rousing round of applause. Playing in front of an audience wasn't a bit nerve-wracking for Madison. “I wasn't scared at all. I'm happy,” Madison said after her performance.