The student newspaper of Park Middle School recently published 8th-grader Christine's account of the 7th & 8th grade chorus and band concert held at the school before the Christmas holidays. Here his her article as it appeared in The Park Press. (Last names have been omitted.)
On Tuesday, December 19, 7:00 p.m., parents and siblings filled the auditorium. That night was an exciting evening. We students had been practicing and planning for months. For weeks we'd been taken away from our normal class time for extra practice to make sure we were ready for this. So what was this big day we were all waiting for? The seventh and eighth grade chorus and band Winter Concert!
This day was making history. This was the first time in over 16 years that the seventh and eighth grade bands would be combined and playing together creating one great, strong sound echoing around the auditorium.
The concert opened up with the Blue Notes Select Chorus singing a couple of songs, including the "Christmas Time" song by the Chipmunks and "Angels Watching Over Me." When they were finished, the seventh and eighth grade chorus amassed on stage, entering from several different points. Once everyone was in their proper places, we started right off with the song "Festive Holiday."
Ms. S. introduced the chorus, and we started our second song, a version of "Carol of the Bells. It was in three parts -- soprano, alto and baritone. It was an impressive piece.
Just after this second song, the sound system gave out. Ms. S. tried talking into the microphone, but it didn't work at all. "This is every chorus director's nightmare!" she moaned. She had to shout through the whole auditorium while Mr. B. tried to find out what was wrong.
The third song was sung only by the seventh grade. The eighth grade filed off the stage and stood to the side while they sang the song "Spin Little Dreidel of Mine."
Conveniently enough, the sound started working again in time for the eighth grade song, which needed the microphones for solos. The song is called "Hanerot Hallelu," and was sung partly in Hebrew.
The last song was called "Grown Up Christmas List." It featured solos by David M. from eighth grade and Kelsey B. from seventh grade.
The seventh and eighth grade bands were also squished together on stage. In my personal opinion, the part of the concert that was the most fun was sprinting from the chorus risers to the cafeteria to get our instruments. It was a mad dash to the next part of the concert!
The first number was a combination of three different Hanukkah songs: "Hanukkah O Hanukkah," "Moaz Turr" and "Zum Gali Gali." It was called "Hanukkah Holiday."
The second song was, in my opinion, the best and hardest to prepare for the concert. It was a combination of "Carol of the Bells" and "Greensleeves." Personally, I believe we did very well. Mr. B. claims that if he hadn't silenced them, the audience would have clapped for hours.
Four saxophones, Laura B., Bryce S., Vidam M. and Santino B., had the next song. They did a quartet of "Jingle Bells."
The final song in the program was a rendition of "Auld Lang Syne. This was one of the few songs where one could hear the flutes very clearly. Towards the end of the song, Mr. B and the percussionists produced noise makers to give the song the feeling of New Year's. Finally, after the last note of the song, the drummers who didn't play jumped up onto the risers and blasted confetti into the audience.
The concert ended on that dramatic note (no pun intended), and we we received a standing ovation. The crowd was amazed at how far we'd come since our first concert at Park back in fifth grade. Andrew M., a fifth grader here at Park, and also my brother, had this to say about the concert: "I didn't know you were that good! That was awesome!"