On Friday evening, December 11 in Mattison Auditorium, the Music Department presented a Holiday Concert, featuring instrumental, choral and vocal ensembles, to the delight of all.

President and vice-president of the Band Eddie Yang ’16 and John LePino ’17 welcomed the large audience to the evening’s performance.

Conducted by Dr. Tom Bouldin, the 52-member Concert Band opened with American Bell Carol (Smith).  This was a familiar favorite and featured Michael Eustace ’18 on percussion and Dr. Michael Magnifico and Alice Benjamin ’18 on trumpet.

Stowaway on Santa’s Sleigh (arr. Sharp) took the audience on a 10-country tour that featured carols performed a la each destination.  Charming.

Next up, the 50-member Orchestra, tuned by first violinist Tina Moon ’18 and conducted by Music Department Chair Jennifer Malone Hobbs, opened with From the Realms of Glory! (Trad., arr. P. Roszell).  The performance was robust and rich in tone, with a nice balance between the strings section and the rest of the ensemble.

J.S. Bach’s (arr. J. Brubaker) Sleepers Awake cantata was stately and magnificent, with the strings’ section carrying the day, as we might expect.

The String Orchestra followed with Silent Night (F. Gruber, arr. E. Morales).  Chris Magnani ’17 and Cecilia Barnhill ’16 sat in the principal cello seats, while double bassists Carl Worth ’17 and Jackson Galichon ’17 were prominent in their roles.  The piece featured terrific pizzicato work by all, at one point.

Highland Holiday closed the String Orchestra’s performance and featured instructor Levon Ofgang on guitar, Jesse Ofgang and  instructor Deborah Cardenas on pennywhistles and instructor David Wonsey on drums in a decidedly (and interesting) Scottish arrangement of popular Christmas tunes.

The Orchestra followed with The Christmas Song (Torme & Wells, arr. B. Lowden), a fine treatment of a familiar carol, featuring a trumpet solo by Alice Benjamin ’18.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Pola & Wyle, arr. B. Cerulli) was lively, fun and simply splendid.

Conducted by Dr. Bouldin, up next came the Jazz Band, opening with Angels We Have Heard on High (arr. Paul Clark), a neat arrangement of a favorite, with a nifty addition of electric guitars played by Alec Cardenas ’17, Andreas Theodoropoulos ’17 and Tiger Li ’18, with Jack Ellis ’18 contributing nimbly on percussion.

Rock the Halls (arr. Paul Clark) featured solo appearances by Jackson Norris ’16 on trombone, Max Scanlon ’17 on keyboard and Matthew Zhou ’19 on clarinet.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas (arr. Andrew Fox) was a real swinger, featuring, in turn, the five-member saxophone section, two trombones and Lachlan Cormie ’17 on tenor saxophone in a solo.  Swell!

No “L” in Swing (arr. Michael Story) riffed on The First Noel, and well, at that, featuring Milo Supasorn ’19 on alto saxophone in a solo.

The evening’s program concluded with three vocal performances, all conducted by Barbara Harris Kovacs, Organist and Choir Director.

A combined Kentones and Kentettes ensemble opened with This Christmas (Hathaway/McKinnor, arr. Langford) in a beautifully-arranged number that featured the girls’ and boys’ voices, to their credit, in turn, and together.  Very pleasing.

The 17-member Chamber Choir next presented For Unto Us a Child is Born (arr. Shaw), featuring soloists soprano Gabi Alias ’16, alto Lucy Zhang ’18, and flutist Katherine Liu ’17.

The 72-member Chamber Choir made a wonderful end to the evening with its vociferous rendition of A Wreath of Carols (arr. Gilpin), which it certainly was, featuring a well-balanced blend of male and female voices and sections that offered a fine evening-ending medley of carols, with instructor Deborah Cardenas on piano accompaniment.

Temperatures in the high 40’s and no snow on the ground not withstanding, the grateful audience, just the same, departed Mattison Auditorium rejoicing with exceeding great joy.

Bravi !

R.E. DesMarais, Jr.