December brings the holiday season to Beaver Area High School, and during this festive season comes time for the music wing ensembles to host their winter concerts.

The orchestra and show choir kicked off concert season December 8 in the Ed Schaughency Theater, better known as the Little Theater. Middle school orchestra performed first, followed by the show choir and the Beaver Forte—the after-school performance group—with the high school orchestra playing last.

The concert opened with middle school violinists and violists serenading the audience from the aisles. These players performed “Finnigan’s Wake,” a traditional Irish reel arranged by orchestra conductor Mrs. Kristina Graham, from memory. Eighth grader Olivia Tabone began the song alone with two rhythmic measures before the rest of the orchestra joined her.

Next, middle school played an arrangement of “Autumn” from Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons Concerto.” This piece was conducted by Mr. John Daniels, a Westminster College graduate and the orchestra’s student teacher for the semester. Mr. Daniels’s primary instrument is the string bass, but he had a heavy hand in instruction for both bassists and cellists throughout the semester.

Middle school orchestra also played “Gargoyles,” composed by Doug Spata, and “Rest Ye Merry, Rock Ye Very,” a rock arrangement of the classic carol “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” composed by Brian Balmages.

The Beaver Area Show Choir has traditionally been a themed singing and dancing group, but low enrollment meant director Mrs. Susan Metelsky had to reevaluate. With four members, the show choir has become a tight-knit jazz quartet.

Seniors Emily Garcia, Grace Jessel, and Ciana Novak, and freshman Katharine Lang performed three songs with piano accompaniment from Mrs. Metelsky. The first was “Lollipop,” made popular by the Chordettes. Second was “I Got the Sun in the Morning” from the Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun, written by Irving Berlin, in which each show choir member sang a solo. The show choir ended their performance with “Route 66” written by Bobby Troup.

After Show Choir was the Beaver Forte. This club is available only to high school and select middle schoolers. Beaver Forte is a semester-long commitment, and rehearsals are after school Wednesdays until 4:15 p.m.

The performers in this semester’s Beaver Forte are junior Rachel Lamb, junior Brenna Schnupp, and eighth grader Ehrin Maloney, violinists, eighth grader Katina Playa on viola, sophomore Amara Stewart on cello, and sophomore Ian McCarty-Cogis on bass.

Beaver Forte played “Lemon Twist” by Doug Spata, “Yesterday” by the Beatles, and “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay.

The final ensemble of the night was the high school orchestra. Performers opened with an arrangement of Yiruma’s “River Flows in You,” conducted by Mr. Daniels. Next, also conducted by Mr. Daniels, was the first two movements of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker”—“March” and “Dance of the Reed Pipes.”

The third piece that the high school orchestra played was a traditional Christmas carol, arranged by Margaret Fenske, titled “Poor Wayfaring Stranger.” Jessel began the song on solo cello. Later during the piece freshman Julian Noll played a viola solo.

The orchestra-show choir concert ended with the high school’s rendition of Karl Jenkins’s “Palladio.”

Additionally, Mrs. Graham made an exciting announcement at the end of the concert.

Seven Beaver Area students applied to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Education Association’s district 5 orchestra, and all students were accepted. The accepted students are Jessel on cello, McCarty-Cogis on bass, sophomore Emily Bragg on viola, sophomore Anthony Tabone on bassoon, sophomore Cailin Downer on flute/piccolo, senior Shannon Witkouski on percussion, and senior Rebecca Mizer on clarinet.

These students then auditioned for Region Orchestra, which includes several districts making up about a third of the state. Six of the seven Beaver Area students participating in District Orchestra qualified for Regional Orchestra: Jessel, McCarty-Cogis, Bragg, Tabone, Witkouski, and Mizer. Witkouski and Mizer also scored the highest in their sections, Mizer taking first chair for the clarinets at regionals.

The next evening was the high school band and choir concert. Due to social distancing procedures for the band, this concert was held in the high school gymnasium.

The Concert Choir and Women’s Ensemble stood in the visitor bleachers, and the band performed on the gym floor. Parents sat in the home bleachers, but with a higher turnout than expected, the overflowing audience took the other half of the visitor bleachers.

Concert Choir opened the performance a capella with a song titled “Welcome: A Seasonal Greeting” composed by Carl Strommen. After that was an arrangement of “Do You See What I See,” a classic Christmas carol by Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne.

Next was an arrangement of the Ukrainian Bell Carol, or “Carol of the Bells.” This piece comes from choirs director Mrs. Metelsky’s caroling packet and is also a favorite of the high school Chamber Choir.

Finally, the Concert Choir sang “The Christmas Waltz,” another classic Christmas song, written in the fifties by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn for Frank Sinatra.

The program moved to the high school Concert Band directed by Mr. J. P. Scanga. The first piece played by the band was “Piece Name”.

The second piece, “Peregrin: A Traveler’s Tale” by Douglas Akey, was conducted by the band’s student teacher, Mr. Caponera, a tubist from Slippery Rock.

Mr. Scanga also paused to recognize the achievements of the PMEA band students Tabone, Downer, Witkouski, and Mizer.

The program moved back to Mrs. Metelsky and the Women’s Ensemble. This choir sang an arrangement of “Winter Song” by Mac Huff, “Ring the Bells” with lyrics taken from a poem by Frances Jane Crosby, “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Gustav Holst, and an a capella arrangement of the traditional carol “Deck the Hall.”

The Concert Choir then joined the Women’s Ensemble to sing a combined piece titled “Riu Riu Chiu,” a traditional Spanish Christmas carol about a nightingale fighting off a wolf to protect her children. This piece was conducted by Mr. Daniels who had been working with the choirs as well as the orchestra.

The final piece of the evening involved all three ensembles. With the band playing accompaniment, Concert Choir and Women’s Ensemble sang a medley titled “Holiday Favorites” containing melodies from Christmas songs such as “Let it Snow,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Silver Bells,” and “Jingle Bell Rock.” This conclusion to the concert highlighted all three ensembles’ hard work throughout this semester as well as the work of the directors and student teachers.

Winter concert season may be over for high school, but the ensembles of the music wing are already making arrangements for spring performances.