The Christmas season at Bear River started off on a good note with the Music Program’s ‘Sounds of the Season’ concert.
The concert was put on the cold night of Friday, December 13 by Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, Starlite, Choir, and Jazz Unlimited, as well as a variety of numbers performed by individual singers. It lasted a little over two hours, and was not limited to Christmas songs, despite the title that would suggest a purely holiday theme. Instead, the first act was a range of music across genres, and the second act took the Christmas focus.
Both halves of the show included ‘Specialty Acts,’ which were solo or small group singing performances. The students who participated in these Specialty Acts including Seniors Bella Thornbury, Brendon Le, and Zoey Moody, as well as Senior Whitney Lybbert, Juniors Emily Adamson, Geneva Hemmert, Cadyn Wilson, and Sophomore Allison Whiting. The last five performed in a group, while the first three were solos. These performances were easily one of the highlights of the concert, showcasing student talent and stage presence. They also embodied the cliched phrase, ‘the show must go on,’ as Le kept singing despite a guitar string breaking a short time after he began.
Other challenges were evident throughout the concert, specifically the Choir members forgetting the words to part of a song they were singing, looking a little lost onstage. However, they caught back on again and continued their act, finishing with smiles on their faces.
This cheery performance atmosphere was exemplified in the second act, when students returned to the stage after intermission, wearing Christmas light necklaces, Santa hats, and reindeer antlers. Festive songs tied in with the festive attire for a unified jolly feeling the second hour.
However, diverging from the typical theme a little by also including non-holiday songs in the show was a good decision, because an overload of slow, quiet choir songs is a recipe for audience members to fall asleep halfway through a Christmas carol. In fact, even more variety in the show order in the future could keep the audience more engaged and enthusiastic.
The finale number was certainly enthusiastic, as it was performed by every singer and musician involved in the show. With a very full stage, squished haphazardly into risers and bleachers, all performing students participated in a holiday medley including “It’s Beginning to look like Christmas”, “Pine Cones & Holly Berries”, “Toyland”, “March of the Toys”, “My Favorite Things”, “We Need a Little Christmas”, and “God Bless Us Everyone”, aided by fake snow sifted from the rafters through a “snow cradle” built by the Bear River Technical Theater class. The snow effect wowed the audience, though it buried the trombone players knee deep in packing peanuts, and overall made for a spectacular finish.
