The crisp cool air, a sparkling tree, bright festive lights, delightful melodies and Vice Principal Gary Scholl sipping hot cocoa by a fireplace. This was the scene that met me at the Music Department’s Winter Concert.
The ensembles that performed that night included concert band, jazz band, drumline, advanced chorus, regular chorus, and orchestra.
The chorus started out the evening by singing a heartwarming tribute to religion teacher Jackie Moeser. Because Moeser is a Beatles fan, the chorus performed “Here Comes the Sun,” which was both inspiring and delightful.
Next came one of my favorite Christmas songs, “Christmastime is Here.” It was performed exactly how I remembered it from “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
The rest of the songs, performed by both of the choruses (the advanced chorus led by Fine Arts teacher Dan Briggs and the regular chorus led by Fine Arts teacher Marc Bolden), were good, but sort of blurred together.
The next memorable song was “Home for the Holidays,” a duet by junior Kelsey Lake and freshman Thomas Gardner, accompanied by the jazz band. Lake and Gardner’s voices resounded throughout the theatre and put a huge smile on my face.
One of my least favorite parts of this program was the “Various themes on ‘Fa-la-la.’” While it was entertaining, I was confused about how it related to Christmas.
“The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” performed by the concert band, was another one of my favorite songs, along with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” sung by junior Elizabeth Johnson and performed by the band. Both of these songs were fantastic, and I found myself singing along to them. Johnson’s voice was perfectly in tune and spread Christmas cheer throughout the auditorium.
Scholl also spread Christmas cheer by assisting the department in performing “A Fireside Christmas.” His surprise role? To create a visual for the song, he sat down with a cup of hot cocoa and shook a tambourine when signaled to do so. This was humorous and lightened the mood.
The orchestra performed all the songs perfectly. The one I could have done without was the “Symphony No. 7 in A Major Mvt. II.” This song was performed well, but I’ve heard it way too many times. It was a little too depressing for the holiday season.
But the grand finale was truly breathtaking. The entire music department came together for one final song, “O Holy Night,” also the name of the actual concert. After sitting through this performance, I can see why.
This concert was a fantastic way to truly get into the Christmas spirit as the holiday draws closer.
Hilary Weidner can be reached for comment at [email protected]