Music Program Highlighted at Holiday Concert

On Thursday, December 11, the holiday season kicked off in the Old Rochester Regional auditorium with the annual Holiday Concert. Featuring the ORR Jazz Band, ORR Concert Band, and ORR Chorus, the program was very well attended and well-received.

The 21-member Jazz Band ensemble performed five songs, including “Hot Chocolate” from the animated film The Polar Express. Junior Holly Frink accompanied the group on this piece as she performed the parts that actor Tom Hanks voiced in the film. Though all of their songs drew positive reactions, “La Llama Azul” was perhaps the best received. The audience really seemed to enjoy this track and its foreign flair. Sophomore Jacob Spevack and Senior Matthew Twaddle provided notable solos during the performance.

After the show, jazz band members Shane Fitzgerald and Zenobia Nelles, both juniors, expressed interest in continuing their music careers after high school. They thought the jazz band’s display that evening went well.

“I’d love to go to school and play the oboe, and maybe join some big band later on,” Nelles said.

Fitzgerald cited “La Llama Azul” and “Hot Chocolate” as what he considered the highlights of the show and “really good performances.”

“Hot Chocolate” was not the only song from the popular Christmas movie The Polar Express that was performed during the concert. Members of the concert band joined the jazz band to perform the song “Believe,” also from the film. This was perhaps the centerpiece of the performance and earned positive reactions from the audience.

The concert band and chorus then set up their entire ensemble for the show’s second half. They performed five more songs, titled “Wassail,” “Midnight Sleighride,” “Greensleeves,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “White Christmas,” respectively. The last two songs of the set are definitely holiday classics, and the concert band and chorus did an excellent job in their renditions, earning standing ovations on both performances.

The balance of well-known songs and more obscure pieces was evident throughout the show, one of the many strong points of the evening.

It seemed, even as the holiday concert wrapped up, the audience was eager for more. Though there was no encore, the entire Music Department earned a robust standing ovation. Much of the credit deservedly went to Music Director Michael Barnicle, who definitely put on a successful show that appealed to people of all ages.

By Patrick Briand

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