The stage is lit up, amps are buzzing, and students are tuning their instruments. For one night, Mid-Pen’s Dragons traded classrooms for backstage green rooms and became rock stars under the lights of the historic Guild Theatre.

Last Tuesday, friends, family, peers, and staffulty gathered at the venue in downtown Menlo Park for Mid-Pen’s annual Spring Concert. Students took the stage in a professional concert setting that has hosted artists like ZZ Top and The Wallflowers, performing an eclectic lineup of songs that ranged from Don't Stop Me Now by Queen to Jeremy by Pearl Jam and Babooshka by Kate Bush.

But the concert itself is only the final product of something much bigger.

What audiences see under the stage lights is the result of an entire school year of rehearsals, experimentation, collaboration, and growth led by Mid-Pen music teacher Jameson Swanagon. Throughout the year, students practice during class, rehearse as ensembles, perform at lunches, and share their work during events like the Fall Concert and Night of the Arts. By the time they arrive at the Guild Theatre, they are not simply performing songs—they are performing months of work.

Playing in a band is no easy feat. Every performance requires six or seven students to stay locked into the same rhythm, dynamics, tempo, and emotional energy. Students must learn not only their own parts, but how to listen to and support one another in real time. That collaborative process is part of what makes Mid-Pen’s music program so special.

This year’s concert also highlighted the creativity and leadership of students beyond performance alone. Three songs in the concert were arranged by senior Thalia S. ’26, a process that involved planning instrumentation, pacing, song structure, dynamics, and reharmonization. Meanwhile, Xesh W. ’27 debuted an original composition performed by their Period 1 ensemble, bringing entirely new music to the stage.

And while the audience experienced one unforgettable evening of live music, the concert represented something much deeper for the students on stage: the confidence built through practice, the trust developed between bandmates, and the joy of creating something together.

By the end of the night, the lights dimmed, instruments were packed away, and the Guild stage went quiet again. But the energy, pride, and growth that carried students there will continue long after the final encore.