On Wednesday, December 12, the choral department had their annual holiday concert at the Annandale Methodist church. The Annandale singers, along with the men and women’s concert choir, select women’s ensemble and Men’s chorale all performed.
Chorus director Stephanie Irish worked very hard to lead this concert. Between the preparations of the music with each group, to picking the music and choreographing some of the Men’s Choral brief dancing, the hard work definitely paid off. The concert was a variety of different upbeat holiday songs to more traditional pieces, showing the range of the types of music that the choruses are able to sing.
During the concert, Annandale Singers performed 6 songs, which included “Processional: Personent Hodie, “ “Psallite” by Michael Praetorious, “Kim Kiu Chiu” with solos by seniors Andrew Riddle, Katerina Magiafas and Ronald Romero. The chorus had their traditional costumes on, consisting of Medieval Age attire with gowns and pantaloons.
The Women’s Concert Choir performed “Little Drummer Boy,” arranged by Katherine Davis, with Austin Costello accompanying them on the snare drum. They were later joined by the Men’s Concert Choir, who sang “Good King Wencelsas” and “Gloria” by John Leavitt. Soloists on these songs included seniors Corey Snegden and Jamiah Harrison.
The Men’s Chorale is known to constantly do well on a performance; between the moves that go along with “Jingle Bells, “or the beautiful voices that are showcased in “Ose Shalom” by John Leavitt. The Select Women’s ensemble performed songs like “Sleigh Ride,” “The Snow” and “Alleluia.” These songs range from upbeat tunes to slower and more classical tunes with accompaniments by two violinists from Thomas Jefferson High School.
Another part of the concert that was enjoyable to the audience was the Alumni participation, where former students from the Annandale choir department could join the current students to sing “Carol of the Bells” by Leontovich.
Finally, the last piece of the night was a mixture of all of the choirs, Alumni and the audience to sing “Hallelujah” (from ‘Messiah’) by G.F. handel. This concluded the fun-filled night with laughter and singing one of the most famous classical holiday songs.
