"Keep Moving Forward is a piece for combined concert band, orchestra, and choir. After the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Sam Berns, our collective grief pushed us to honor him through music. Thus, we asked Mark Miller to compose a piece that represented Sam’s life.
Mr. Miller astoundingly was able to complete the fantastic piece in a mere two months and we have had only about four weeks to prepare it. After extensively studying Sam’s own words along with our thoughts on Sam, Mr. Miller was able to truly capture Sam’s spirit and character in the work. In fact. the title of the piece is taken from Sam’s own words and serves as a pillar in his philosophy for a happy life. The tempo of the piece constantly increases, representing Sam’s “moving forward” attitude. The piece is joyful as we sought to represent Sam’s life, not the grief we felt in his passing. We even get to party a little as Sam always advised us to never miss a party if we could help it. As a music department, this piece has helped us cope with the loss of our friend by making a piece of art that we think Sam would be proud of. We think he would have loved to play this piece, and in a way, feel that he is playing it with us. We hope that our performance demonstrates our love for Sam and reminds you of how truly amazing he was. We love you. Sam."
- The FHS Music Department