Musical Holiday Tour

Sleigh bells ring across the district from the musical Holiday Tour

On December 15, band and choir members headed out for a Holiday Tour of the district. Students left the building around 9 and began their tour at Bon Air Elementary. Each stop was a holiday music medley with many well-known holiday songs:

• Concert Band - "Sleigh Ride", "Life Eternal" & "Toymakers' Workshop" 

• Show Choir -  a medley of songs from the movie Love is a Christmas Carole 

• Chamber Choir - a rendition of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" 

• Full Choir - "The Children Go Where I Send Thee" 

• Combined band and choir -  "On with the Snow"  

Students enjoyed lunch at TJ Buffet at the Pittsburgh Mills Mall where they ran into Santa who obliged with a spectacular group photo. Santa asked the group to sing for them, which was a "Hallmark movie magic moment as people came out of the store to listen to us sing," said Senior Abby Larko (Concert Band Member). After their lunch break, they returned to the district to finish the tour at HMS and Stewart. Senior Alexa Callender (Show and Concert Choir Member) said, "It was so much fun, and it was the first time the choir got to participate in the Holiday Tour." The band usually does the tour on their own, but this year, the choir came along as well. "It was exciting to go because we haven't done a tour since it was on hold because of COVID. We always looked forward to it, so it was great to participate since there hasn't been one while we've been at the high school," said Junior Meadow Wlodarczyk (Concert Band Member). One of the highlights of the tour was the excitement of the elementary students. "Bon Air was so interactive with the show," said Callender. "I thought it was funny when it got quiet at one point in the show, and they thought it was the end; so they started to clap. They were so excited to see the large instruments," said Junior Leah Leslie (Concert and Marching Band and Commercial Ensemble member). Stewart was also excited to see their own music teachers on the stage. Another highlight was the guest conductors at each school for the band's traditional "Sleigh Ride" performance, including Andrew Moyer at Bon Air, Ms. Larko at Stewart, and Riley Quinn at the middle school.