The Big Sandy School's music program showcased the progress of students in their music education with the annual Christmas concerts this week. The High School and Elementary School concerts took place last week on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6:30. The High School auditorium filled to the brim with parents, teachers, and locals, who gathered to greet the holiday season with songs and watching their kids and grandkids perform in the program.
The High School concert opened with the annual procession of the choir students in their robes and singing traditional Christmas songs as they walked down the aisles to the stage where they performed various Christmas standards and a couple new tunes. The Christmas choral medley featured classics like: Gloria, Away in a Manger, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and Silent Night. The choir went on to perform 3 more pieces, all accompanied by Melanie Schwarzbach on piano.
In the interlude between the choir's performance and the full band taking the stage, individual and small groups of students performed. Standouts in the performances included the various flute pieces. The first, a solo by Marquell Houle playing We Three Kings, was excellent. Later in the program, Marquell took the stage again with the flute quartet. Alleyah Eagleman, London Keane, Marquell Houle, and Dejalin Sunchild performed Hark the Herald Angels Sing. The piece was handily one of the best performances of the evening. Marquell and James Calvao performed a flute duet rendition of The Holly and the Ivy. The performance put an exclamation point on the evening's proclamation regarding the excellence of the flute section of the Big Sandy band.
Another standout moment from the evening came from Lyndee Worrall, who played L'Avalanche and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas on the piano. Her performance was flawless and the music lovely. London Keane's solo vocal performance of What Child is This with Dianna Keane accompanying her on piano. Abbey Sietsema demonstrated her growth as a trumpet player by performing We Three Kings, accompanied by Rebecca Wiehe. One particularly neat and noteworthy moment in the evening featured Chris Myers accompanying on Ukulele. He played the Hawaiian Christmas classic Mele Kalikimaka for the vocal quartet of the piece by Tori Dixon, Bailey Heppner, Brianna Terry, and Jaesun Yirsa.
The evening closed out with the Big Sandy High School Band performing several pieces. TJ Bond, the music teacher, explained that the school's band has quite a few members, making it surprisingly large for a class C school. In fact, it would be a large band for a class B school. The trumpet section notably distinguished itself in the three performances.
The Thursday evening Elementary School concert was performed for a packed house. The evening kicked off with a jazzy tune, Keep Cool, on recorders by the 4th grade class. The 5th Grade band followed up with performances of March Steps, Au Clair De La Lune, and Jingle Bells. The final full band performance, from the 6th graders, included Up On the Housetop and Jingle Bell Rock.
The event then went on to solos and small group performances, always a highlight of the concerts. Beginning with a clarinet solo performance of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer by Emma Chauvet. The brass duet that followed, Thea Merrill and Janeya Potter, performed Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. The final quartet, performing Feliz Navidad, featured Austin Heppner, Rome Kallenburger, Jaxon Stump, and Kanin Sura.
The second half of the concert featured choral performances by the different grades. As always, the tunes were funny, sweet, and entertaining. The closing performance of Room At My Table by the kindergarten to sixth grade was pretty, putting a bow on gift that was this year's Christmas concerts.
The events were streamed to the Big Sandy Schools Facebook Page and can be watched there.
