On Wednesday, December 14th the Berkley choirs will hold their annual Winter concert in the BHS Auditorium where the A Capella, Belle Tones, Encore!, and Concert choirs will perform songs for the holiday season. Each choir has been working hard to give a diverse repertoire and amaze the audience.
When asked about Encore’s preparation process, junior Grace Comstock, a member of the ensemble shared that they would be singing, “‘Where Are You Christmas (WAYC),” “Santa Claus Boogie,” and “White Winter Hymnal.” “WAYC” is a ballad about trying to “revive the Christmas spirit”, “Santa Claus Boogie” is jazzy and fun, and “White Winter Hymnal” is, “Near and dear to our heart because we perform it every year.” Being a song Encore! performs annually, “White Winter Hymnal” is always a hit with the audience, and it also happens to be a song that the ensemble’s members can pick up relatively quickly which makes the overall preparation process easier. Comstock thinks people should be excited for the winter concert because, “They’ll get to see all the choirs perform fun Christmas and holiday songs, there are songs we do every year as traditions, and they can see us progress.” Comstock wants the audience to feel “Inspired, joyful, and merry” after seeing the concert.
Sophomore Jadyn Zager is especially excited about the French Christmas carol “Noel Nouvelet” which Concert Choir will be performing at the winter concert. She described it as a “nice change of pace” for the choir and is hopeful that it’ll turn out well and “shock” the audience. Zager also mentioned another song from their holiday set called “Bidi Bom” which has “lots of dynamics, with us repeating the phrase fast and slow, and softly and loud.” She says the easiest part of learning their songs has been the repetition in them, “Once you know half the song, you basically have the other half.” She voices that the difficulties the choir has had are conducting “good rehearsals” when their director is out, as well as “all sounding in-sync and in tune together.” She thinks people should be excited about the winter concert because “It’s the holidays and the holidays are the best!” and hopes that the choirs get tons of applause.
While winter preparation is occurring, A Capella and Belle Tones are also getting ready to perform at the famous New York concert venue Carnegie Hall in the spring. Because that is such a major event, they have been focusing the majority of their energy on that. Senior from A Cappella, Courtney Walker says, ”Us and eight other choirs from around the world are going to perform for a packed theater.” She described their songs as “six college-level pieces of sophisticated choral music.“ While they have a lot of advanced music, Walker says “Sight reading and the practice tracks” have helped A Capella learn the music at an expedited rate.
Mariah Jones, a senior from Belle Tones, highlights their song “We Are” as a standout song with a, “‘Pirates of the Caribbean” type of vibe.” Jones says it’s her favorite song to sing so far because “the alto part is coming together quite well.” She hopes that after they perform for Carnegie Hall the audience will be amazed and think “‘Oh my gosh, these choirs are super good, they sound like professionals.”’
Despite their busy schedule for their Carnegie Hall performances, Walker and Jones are still very excited for the annual holiday concert. Walker states, “I like it better than most of our other concerts because we get to sing fun, upbeat music and the crowd really enjoys it.” Jones emphasized the “close community and family vibe” during the concert because of the jolly season. She’s also excited for the audience to hear Belle Tones’ “voice as an ensemble because every year there are new people in the choir and we sing new songs.” She assures that there’s “always something fresh for them to look forward to.”
Belle Tones and A Capella are excited for the chance to perform at such a prestigious venue and all of the choirs at BHS are happy for the opportunity to bring holiday glee to the community with their winter concert this year and hope everyone enjoys it!
