Chorus holds winter show
photo by Sarah Hinnant
Seniors Adam Johnson, Haleigh Strickland, Evan Bogert and junior Olivia Martin sing Rejoice with Exceeding Great Joy by Charlotte Richie, Reggie and Love Smith.
On the evening of Dec. 10, people flooded into the auditorium to hear the chorus sing in their annual winter concert. The students were looking forward to a festive performance to put them in the holiday spirit.
All five choir classes gathered on stage to sing 13 songs. Most songs were classical but there were several holiday tunes as well.
“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” was performed by the Huskafellas, an all-male choir. During this performance, principal Robert Frasca appeared on stage dressed as the popular holiday character “The Grinch.” Students were delighted to see their principal on stage with the choir.
The sets were ordered by song placement, with Chorale first, followed by Hagerty Singers, Huskafellas, Concert choir, Voices of Hagerty, JHMS Treble chorus and the combined choirs following after.
The Huskafellas were the third choir to perform in the set, giving them plenty of time to worry about their performance.
“We all had to calm down before we sang Silent Night,” freshman Nathan Epperson said.
Solos were placed in between each performance to even out the song placement.
Each class sang two songs and then three songs together as a group. Around 140 Hagerty students performed and 24 students from Jackson Heights sang at the event as guests. Students from both schools came to enjoy the show. Chorus teacher Christopher Hickey was very impressed with how the students performed.
“They self-evaluate and grow with every rehearsal. If they didn’t work so hard, it wouldn’t have sounded as amazing as it did,” Hickey said.
Tickets were sold in the cafeteria before the concert and at the door, and with a last minute influx of audience members, the auditorium was filled.
“We expected a good turnout, just not something that big,” freshman Corbin Whitlow said.
The choirs prepared for the event for the past month, rehearsing several days after school in the days leading up to the performance. The students used their time after school to work on the transitions and movement that would appear in the performance, as well as to perfect all of the songs that they would be singing.
During the show, there were minor technical difficulties. The sound booth lost signal to the wireless handheld mic that was being used on stage. Despite these difficulties, Hickey and the choir students continued the show and kept it organized.
Hickey looks forward to planning and organizing the upcoming concerts that will occur during the rest of the school year, and is eager to see how the choir improves overall.
“I can’t wait to see how all of our experiences next semester will add to our personal and program growth,” Hickey said.
The next choir production takes place on Friday, Dec. 20, at Epcot’s International Festival of the Holidays for the annual Candlelight Processional.
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