Holiday Music Concert
December 19, 2022
On Monday, Dec. 6, the West High music groups held a holiday music concert to spread holiday cheer. In order from first to last, the choirs performed at 6 p.m., the orchestras performed at 7 p.m. and the bands performed at 8 p.m.
The Treble Clef chorus, Bass Clef chorus and Concert Choir all performed under the direction of Holly Roseland. The Treble Clef chorus opened the concert with three selections, including “Jingle Bell Rock.” They were followed by the Bass Clef chorus who performed two pieces, one of which being a challenging a capella version of “Carol of the Bells.” To wrap up the choir portion of the concert, the concert choir performed three lively pieces, ending with Brad Holmes, “Noel.”
Neo Bell is an alto in the Concert Choir and, when discussing what the most memorable part of choir has been this semester, said “my most memorable memory was trying out for all-state; I’m really proud of myself for the fact that I was the only person in our choir to get a callback.” With the second semester around the corner, Bell says “I’m just looking forward to more concerts to prepare for and more good memories.”
Moving on to the orchestras, the Concert Orchestra opened with three songs, one of which being “Sinfonietta for Strings” by Anthony Granata. Following that, the Symphony Strings played five songs, one of which included a violin solo by Phillip Boesen for Ahrirang, arranged by Soo Han. When discussing the most memorable moment of orchestra this far, Boesen said “playing in quartets with members of the orchestra, just last week we played at a hotel for a little banquet and played music.” As the second semester grows closer, Boesen looks forward to “harder pieces, we just got assigned music yesterday and it’s looking really challenging so far.”
On to the final groups, the ninth grade Concert Band played a total of three songs, ending with Frank Ticheli’s “Joy.” After them, the tenth through twelfth grade Wind Symphony played an additional three songs, ending the night with “Scenes from the Nutckracker,” by Tchaikovsky, arranged by Michael Story.
Damian Jackson, a flutist in the tenth through twelfth grade wind symphony, said his most memorable moment was “marching band.” “I love marching band because it is very challenging, not only do you need to memorize all of the music but you have to memorize exactly where you are going. That can be a little difficult to balance at times,” Jackson explained. Following Monday’s concert, Jackson said his favorite song the band performed was “Brighton Beach.” Jackson would then go on to say “it is quite simple but still challenging. It just has a pirate tune that reminds me of Assassin’s Creed when you are sailing on the ocean.”
