By Akira Sumpter

Patterson High School showcased art in all forms at its annual Spring concert and arts show on May 8, 2026.

When students, staff, and family members first entered the art show, the first thing they saw was an impressive gallery of visual art made by Patterson students. Works of art were displayed on easels and sprawled upright across the cafeteria floor. No two pieces were alike. The walls nearest to the auditorium doors were covered in flat two-dimensional art and every piece had a name assigned to it to credit the artist and their teacher.

Upon entering the auditorium where another type of art was showcased, the audience was treated to live vocals from our very own choir singing “Siyahamba” in perfect harmony with the African percussion coming from Ira Hinton and Jihaad Everett. Then the curtains closed and opened again to reveal our powerful dance team dancing in tradition and faith, introduced by the two hosts of the evening, Jeremy Jones and Romeo Merritt. After this, the choir performed again, but this time a cappella–no drums, no clapping, just pure voice led by their director, Mr. Fowler.

Next there was a quick live performance of guitar blues, a dance, drinks, and a good time, similar to a scene in the movie “Sinners”, where the main character sang and played his guitar at a juke joint for the first time. The main character had an eerily similar voice to the movie actor. The whole thing felt like you were up there, dancing and singing with the cast.

Later on in the party, musicians came on stage and started to play some jazzy blues. They were dressed spiffy from head to toe and definitely stole the show as they played old New Orleans style jazz, giving the audience a warm feel of nostalgia. The group of musicians on stage performing had a strong tuba player, a determined trumpeter, a smooth tenor sax, and a sophisticated alto and yet they each sounded like two players instead of one. Some members left the party that was on stage and walked into the auditorium aisles while the rest of the actors stayed put on stage.

Soon after intermission, our PHS marching band performed a few favorite songs from their set list, such as “Big Ballin’”, “Down for My Brothers”, “Tatted Up”, “Just Got Paid”, and many other bangers. Everyone on stage had pure energy. Every other song had cool dance moves, chants and amazing sound as senior band members performed their last band performance at the high school level, directed by the amazing Ms. Williams. Our band has rebuilt stronger yet again this year with mostly eager newcomers who only just  joined the band this year, but that obviously did not stop them from cranking out loud and clear tunes.

One of the last few performances was a tribute to Michael Jackson. There was a reenactment of his older music video when he was a part of the “Jackson Five”. There was also African dance and drums, which got the crown excited and moving. This was definitely a night to remember, and the event’s organizers are confident that next year’s show will be even better.