The Choir Winter Concert was held on December 13 in the JP Stevens Auditorium. The choral directors, Mr.Lee and Ms.McElroy, showcased the diverse choirs present: Concert Choir, Acapella Choir, Treble Choir, Tenor-Bass Choir, and the Chamber Choir.

This year the Concert Choir is the biggest it has been in recent years with around 200 students, and they opened the concert by performing these three pieces: “When Our Voice Rise” by Stuart Chapman Hill, “Hold Me, Rock Me” by Brian Tate, and “Night of Silence” by Dan Kantor, arranged by John Ferguson. 

“When Our Voices Rise” is an uplifting song about the power of unity, and how that unity allows all of us to be intertwined as a community. This message is most seen in the middle of a song, when each voice part starts to join together with different parts in harmony, solidifying the message. Next, “Hold Me, Rock Me” was a very calming piece that soothed the audience and reminded them of cradle songs. The piano and legato voices of the choir blended together with the heartfelt emotions from the lyrics. Lastly, “Night Of Silence” was a song that combines two juxtaposition themes along with a Christmas classic: “Silent Night”. The beginning of the song had lyrics containing the idea of the darkness present and its transformation into light, which is then promptly followed by the traditional “Silent Night”. Ultimately, ending with the combination of both created a sense of awe. 

Next, the Treble Choir took the stage to perform with their sopranos and altos. The first song was “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”, a traditional gospel piece arranged by J. David Moore. The song featured soloists senior Kinjal Gadgil, sophomore Vedika Srinivasan, and sophomore Mehroop Kaur who delivered a surreal harmony that set a soulful tone to the song. Then, the group sang “Girl’s Sing Off” from the television show Glee, which was a combination of two songs: “Halo” by Beyonce and “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves. It featured solos from sophomore Nikhita Kamarajuggada and senior Casey Decker, with accompaniment from senior Riya Kholi, on piano, and sophomore Mishka Wankhade, on drums. The upbeat and lively song mixture brought upon a happier tone and the familiar song even made the audience feel like singing along. 

“I was really surprised to see that they were singing Beyonce!” said senior Anya Sanwal. “I found it really fun and I actually knew all the words, and it sounded really good!” Then, the Tenor Bass Choir came up and performed two songs: the nostalgic “Beatles Melody”, arranged by Mr. Lee, and fan favorite”Fruitcake”, by Phillip Hageman and Penny Leka. The “Beatles Melody” had percussion by senior Shravan Venkat, and it consisted of familiar songs like, “I want to Hold Your Hand”, “Help”, and “She Loves You”. The performance was lively and entertaining as the members used various actions to play along with the lyrics. “Fruitcake” continued this fun atmosphere, with its fun filled lyrics about how to bake a fruitcake. This song had accompaniment on the piano by senior David Zou, and also had amusing actions related to the lyrics, causing laughter to bubble. 

“”We are sincerely proud of the students for all of their hard work”, said Mr.Lee, the choral director. “We couldn’t have done this without the help of so many volunteers, including students, parents, custodians, and administration. Concerts are so special because they are truly a team effort.”

Afterwards, the Chamber Choir took the stage and performed their stunning repertoire. They started with “A Prayer From The Middle Ages” by Howard Hansan, which left the audience speechless with its divine nature and majestic sound. Then, they sang “Turing Believes Machine Think” by Gordan Hamilton, which was based off a letter that was found in Alan Turing’s apartment after he committed suicide. This was due to the fact that his whole life’s work was discredited as to him being a gay man, and faced homophobic hate. Therefore this song had incorporated his backstory, and had machine sounds. Lastly, to celebrate and bring up Christmas cheer the choir sang their well known rendition of “A Holly Jolly Christmas” arranged by Kirby Shaw. 

Next, the Acapella Choir started with “Lully, Lulla, Lullay” by Philip Stopford, a somber song about children being taken away from their mothers and featured a solo by junior Sara Deo. Then, they sang “Non nobis, Domine” by Rosephanye Powell, an intense hymn about praising the lord. Following that, the choir performed “Grace Before Sleep” by Susan LaBarr, a song with changing dynamics and a peaceful melody. To end, they performed “Noel” by Todd Smith and arranged by Brad Holmes, which was a contrast as it was an African song that incorporated percussion by senior Shravan Venkat. It had solos by senior Sharvan Venkat, sophomore Nikul Maloo, freshmen Dhurv Mirchandani, and junior Ved Pant. The song also had movement, which produced a very fun vibe.

Finally, the Concert Choir came back to the stage for the final song “Carol of the Bells” by Peter Wilhousk, a classic carol. Overall, the concert was fantastic and the dedication and hard work of the students and directors showed through.