Winter concerts
The 2010 winter concerts occurred on Tuesday, Dec. 7, and Wednesday, Dec. 8, in the theater. Orchestra and choir, under the direction of David Martin, performed on the first day. It consisted of the string orchestra, chamber orchestra, women’s choir, concert choir and chamber choir. Troy Davis’s concert band, symphonic band and wind ensemble played on the second day.
This was the sixth winter concert Aragon has hosted. A perennial tradition, the wind ensemble performed “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson with a student conductor. “Students audition for [‘Sleigh Ride’] and are selected by their peers to conduct the piece on the concert,” says Davis.
The choice of the music was influenced by the holidays, with some Christmas carols and other winter-related pieces. Martin says, “I often select works that combine the choir and orchestra. This year, the chorus is doing a few pieces with percussion. The theme of the concert was ‘Peace on Earth’, so the women’s choir sung songs called ‘Peace on Earth’ and ‘Lots of Little Crickets.’”
Band director Troy Davis says, “[Our music] needs to have a diverse repertoire, representing music from different backgrounds and cultures, and it needs to be a challenge for students but also playable by the time we get to the performance.”
The wind ensemble narrates a piece every year, alternating between “Peter and the Wolf” and “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” This year, senior Emma Walsh narrated “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Walsh says, “It started out as a joke with my friends, and I put on this huge, fake British accent, and a few days later, Davis asked me to narrate it.”
Freshman Carolin Chao, a soprano one in women’s choir says, “I believe our most prominent piece is a certain rendition of ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’, since we’ve been working on this piece for a really long time, and it seems to be our comfort piece.”
Freshman Amy Barch, a violinist, says, “We were most prepared for ‘Pegasus’. We worked on this piece the most, and its magical moments make it the piece that everyone wants to practice. Everyone in orchestra loves this piece.”
