On Monday, December 16th, University Preparatory High School (UPHS) had its annual winter concert. The concert was held at Gateway Church at six in the evening. This performance was an amazing way to kick off the holiday season! It allowed students in the audience and the performers to take a break from the stress of finals and enjoy some festive music, while also appreciating the performing students’ hard work. Gateway church was decorated with beautiful wreaths on the walls and many Christmas trees covered in beautiful, twinkling lights. The decor added to the comforting atmosphere of the event. 

The performance opened with Dr. Helen Feller, UPHS’s beloved principal, giving her customary speech. In this speech, Dr. Feller brings up the history of the UPHS music department, “Music is definitely a legacy program at University Prep. Mr. Kelly, our first principal, started it with one jazz band class and there were 14 students in that one class. … I just wish he could be here today to see 234 kids grown from that one class!” Dr. Feller also mentioned the hard work all the students put into their music over 17 weeks to prepare for the concert. These lovely words spoken by Dr. Feller were not wrong, the performance was outstanding and the hard work dedicated to the music could be heard.

The concert contained five ensembles: concert band, intermediate handbells, symphony orchestra, advanced bells, and choir. Two speakers introduced the different ensembles, them being Anna Maya and Lucas Featherston. To begin, Anna Maya introduced the concert band, which played “A Charlie Brown Christmas” by Vince Guaraldi, arranged by Paul Murtha, and “Brazilian Sleigh Bells” by Percy Faith, arranged by Johnnie Vinson. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” contained classical tunes from the beloved animated movie, warmth emulated from the smooth jazz. Right after, the Bass Breakers played “Jingle Bell Rock”, then came intermediate handbells. Handbells are a classic for a UPHS concert; this particular time around, they also performed classics such as “Do You Hear What I Hear” by Noel Regney, arranged by Charvi Reddy, “Christmas Carol Fest II” arranged by Douglas E. Wagner, and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” by Johnny Marks, arranged by Arnold B. Sherman. The symphony was introduced to the stage to take a break from the beautiful handbells.

Like all of the ensembles, the symphony consisted of many talented musicians. The music played showcased the beauty of all the different instruments, and together, it was a magical experience. There were three songs performed: “Russian Christmas Music” by Alfred Reed, arranged by Michael Story, “All Is Calm” by Franz Gruber, arranged by Robert W. Smith, and "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24” by O’Neil/Kinkel, arranged by Bob Phillips. The first two songs were slow and beautiful, “All Is Calm” had two soloists, cellist Liam Curtiss and clarinetist Elena Pelayo, who both did lovely. After the symphony, the advanced handbells performed, and for their first song, the symphony accompanied them. The first song the combined ensembles played was “Now The Green Blade Riseth” by French Carol, arranged by Kevin McChesney, the combination of the two different ensembles brought a different sound to the ears of the audience, it was pleasing. The advanced handbells played “The Little Drummer Boy” by Katherine Davis, arranged by Joey Raney, and “Caroler’s Hoedown” by various composers, arranged by Valrie W. Stephenson.

To conclude the night, the UPHS choir performed, with accompanist Ms. Amy Zisko. The choir also was accompanied by the advanced handbells for their first song “Carol of the Bells” a Ukrainian folk song arranged by Arnold Sherman. The choir sang a fun song, to represent the stress of the holiday season, “Could It Be Just a Dream?” by Piotr Illych Tchaikovsky, arranged by Daniel Smith and was based on the Nutcracker’s “Sugar Plum Fairy”. This was followed by “Winter Lullaby” by Susan Lampert, which was sung by the sopranos and altos, and “Frozen Heart” from Frozen by Kristen Anderson-Lopze and Robert Lopez, arranged by Mike Bullman, sung by the tenors and basses. Finally, to end the night off, a folk song “A La Nanita Nana” arranged by Sherri Porterfield was sung, and to bring everyone together, a last song “A Holiday Sing-Along” arranged by Audrey Snyder was performed. This final song had various classical holiday songs many people know, a delightful way to end the evening. 

If you could not attend this concert, attempt to attend the next one in the spring, UPHS always puts on a show to love!