Story by Gavin Bartolome
Staff Writer
Photo by Mac Shropshire
Staff Photographer
SPHS and SPMS choir students joined together to celebrate the month’s festivity with their vocal talent on Wednesday, Dec. 4 in the SPMS auditorium. The choir presented a variety of songs to bring in the holiday spirit, ranging from Andrea Ramsey’s Cover Me With The Night, sung by the SPMS advanced choir, to SPHS performance of Gustav Holst’s I Love My Love.
Led by choir director Wylder Reinman, the concert began with the SPHS choir’s rendition of George Handel’s Messiah, accompanied by several SPMS teachers and the SPHS band. Later, the concert focused the spotlight on the 34 SPHS choir students’ abilities with renditions of the classic carol Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas along with more modern songs such as Kiss Me.
“I like to have a mix of music … I get bored with solely classical choral music. Students audition … and I spend time curating a variety of music,” Reinman said.
The concert additionally highlighted several students who auditioned to perform in solos between the ensemble pieces. Among these performances, high school choir students Cinbie Chang and Kiana Čanigova sang Kiss Me and In My Life respectively.
At the beginning of the school year, choir students spent every fifth period rehearsing, ensuring that their performance projected their spirit for the songs for their audience.
“I really love it. The people there are so nice, and it was just so easy to work with them,” SPHS freshman and choir student Katherine Waterman said.
As the performance of In My Life came to a close, the SPMS advanced choir joined the stage, starting with Cover Me With The Night. Later, the choir students sang songs such as Pentatonix’s Take Me Home.
Among their extensive repertoire, the choirs sang Kyle Pederson’s Does The World Say. Pederson’s piece tackles the pressure people face against the world, acknowledging how hard it is to stand alone and the social stigma against expressing individuality.
Soon after, the SPMS intermediate and beginning choirs were welcomed onto the stage. With the unity of multiple choirs, the rest of the concert focused on the vitality of companionship and relationships with O Waly Waly being the last song. The concert ended on a note of highlighting the beauty of friendship and the value humanity draws from interpersonal connections.
“So many moments stand out as a favorite from the concert … I think the singers really rose to the occasion, producing a high-level performance,” said Reinman.
