On December 11, the middle and high school band and choirs performed their Winter Concert. At this concert, each group showed what they had been working on throughout the first semester and performed it for all their friends and family. The middle school performed first, starting with their sixth-grade band. They performed Jingle Bells, My Dreydl, Up On A Housetop, Jolly Old St. Nick, and Beethoven’s Ninth. They demonstrated their practice with harmonic balance and their interpretations of classic Christmas music. Next, the sixth-grade choir performed, and guest flute players performed with them. Libby Dunn and Gracie Foster are seniors and were both very happy to play along with the choir. The choir performed The Holly and the Ivy, The Turtle Dove, and Pirate Story.
The seventh-eighth grade band performed next with Swing, Santa, Swing, Santa the Barbarian, and White Christmas. For the seventh graders, they learned how to play more difficult music. The eighth graders learned to be leaders and are still learning as they go. The seventh-eighth grade choir was next and sang Boatmen Stomp, Skye Boat Song with junior Jayden Swinehart on percussion, and Snowflakes. This choir had only girls, so they successfully made a choir work with only soprano and alto parts.
To start the high school portion, the high school Jazz Band performed. They played I’ll Be Home for Christmas and O Christmas Tree. The great thing about Jazz Band is that all the players get to try new instruments and all get to show their talent. For example, Shaine Bennett had a trombone solo in I’ll Be Home for Christmas. And Tyce Sylvester had a piano solo in O Christmas Tree. Jazz Band is also a smaller group of people so the players have to learn how to equally blend their parts and improve together. Then the high school choir performed starting with Keep Your Lamps! For this song Violet Renwick, Regan Schuette, and Jayden Swinehart played percussion. They followed with Carol of the Bells conducted by the student teacher Grace Cano. The choir continued with I’m Just a Poor Wayfarin’ Stranger, A Gaelic Good Night, and Loch Lomond with soloists Anthony Luu, Emily Heisner, Finn Renwick, and Julianna Cool. This choir changes its sound throughout the years with people coming and going. But they always find a way to sound amazing and blend their voices together. Last but not least, the high school Concert Band performed Alleluia! Laudamus Te, Greensleeves, and A Christmas Festival. These songs were more difficult and the band had to work extra hard to prepare these songs. But they did very well and carried a powerful sound.
Congratulations to all the students who performed in the 2023 Middle/High Winter Concert.
The concert is available at on YouTube here.
