Sleigh Ride Through a Music Wonderland

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JENNIFER THAI
Staff Writer

AHS hosted its annual Winter Concert on Dec. 6, held in the auditorium. The concert featured Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) programs on campus, including Choir, Guitar, Jazz Band, Marching Band, Symphonic Band and Tri-City Orchestra.

The directors began their preparation for the Winter Concert once the new school year started in order to help the students perform to the best of their abilities.

“The beginning of the year is always a little tricky because we are starting from the very basics,” Choir Director Samuel Chen said. “Since we started [school] earlier this year, I felt like we had a good amount of time to prepare for the concert. I’m very proud of how the students performed and I heard a lot of positive feedback about the concert.”

This year, the Winter Concert was performed in a pops-style. A pops-style concert is when each group performs various pieces that are spread throughout the evening, as opposed to having each group perform their pieces all at once and exiting the stage.

Pops-style was introduced as a way to ensure that there was an audience for each group that was performing at the time. Prior concerts have indicated that parents in the audience would leave right after their children’s part in the concert ended, resulting in an influx or decline in the size of the audience before or after certain groups.

“We consider these comprehensive programs in music and other creative arts to be essential components of a balanced, high-quality learning process,” parent Tammy Principe said.

It has been noted that pops-style will not be used for the Spring Concert. Instead, the performance will most likely be split into two separate nights, another style that has been used in previous years; this style allows the groups to create a more complete performance for their audience.

“I think the campus has grown to appreciate the program more and more,” senior and four-year member of Band and Orchestra Emily Adsit said. “[However], I think that students that aren’t involved in VAPA should attend future concerts. Even if you personally aren’t performing, you get to see your peers excel.”