On Thursday, December 7th at 7:30 pm, the instrumentalists and vocalists of the Upper School came together to perform at the Winter Concert. With new faculty in the music department, the concert was a breath of fresh air that incorporated new and exciting concepts. Our new choir director, Laura Backley, chose to begin the concert with Tres Nanas Cantabras, a Spanish lullaby sung by the morning choir, and to end the concert with Bright Morning Stars, an acapella song sung by the high voices of morning choir. The decision to end with a quieter song, rather than the usual forte finale, allowed the concert to begin and end on a similar note.

The Wind Ensemble received a roar of applause after their rendition of Africa, which had everyone in the crowd tapping or humming along. The orchestra played Inverno, which is a beautiful piece written by Antonio Vivaldi. The symphony performed Go West as the last, but definitely not least, instrumental performance of the night. The vocalists of morning choir sang and clapped to White Winter Hymnal, a song by the acapella group, Pentatonix. The 9th grade choir, morning choir, and orchestra came together to perform Winter Song by Sara Bareilles.

This concert, unlike previous concerts, had a new focus on diversity and inclusion. Rather than singing and playing Christmas songs, the pieces had a focus on the winter season. Additionally, the choir sang one African-style song and one song in Spanish which added to the diversity of languages as well as sounds. A small detail seen in the program also demonstrates the focus on inclusion; the previously separate men and women’s choirs, have transformed into the low voices and high voices, getting rid of any possible preconceptions.

The Winter Concert was an overall success! The students produced beautiful sounds and the music department was able to create and direct a new, diverse, and inclusive type of concert that everyone can enjoy and be a part of. Many thanks to the arts department as well as the performers for an amazing concert!