Free Holiday Choral Concert, Dec. 18

On Dec. 18, 2014 the spirit of the holidays will sparkle when over 150 Simsbury High School choral students present their winter concert in the school’s auditorium. The concert, which is free and open to the public, will feature all five of SHS’s chorale ensembles and the school’s three student-run a cappella groups. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for a food drive being sponsored by the Tri-M Music Honor Society.

While most of the choirs will perform wonderful individual songs, every year, Colleen Thompson, the director of choirs, chooses one choir to present a major work at the winter concert. This year, the premiere ensemble, the 16-member all-female junior/senior group Simsbury Singers, will be performing Benjamin Britten’s beloved Ceremony of Carols.

This beautiful Christmas cantata is a superbly crafted piece, originally scored for boy choir and harp. It was composed by Britten in 1942 on a long sea voyage from Great Britain to the US; the voyage made longer by the fact the ship had to avoid German U-boats.

Based mostly on medieval poems, the Ceremony of Carols remains one of the most popular pieces Britten composed and a staple in holiday performances. The Simsbury Singers will be accompanied by Hartt student Annelise Ellars and solos will be performed by juniors Maia Czaikowski and Kristin Weiss.

The other four SHS choruses will also be performing music of the season. The concert will open with a processional – an a cappella version of the fast-paced and much-loved Carol of the Bells performed by Freshman Girls and Concert Choir.

The Freshman Girls Chorus will follow with songs by Faure, Glick and Mozart. Concert Choir, a men’s choir comprised of 9-12th graders, will perform Samuel Wesley’s Si Iniquitates Observaveris , a challenging, lyrical piece in Latin, its text taken from Psalm 130.

They will also perform modern composer Roger Emerson’s signature contemporary pieces, Festival Alleluia and his expressive and challenging arrangement of the timeless spiritual Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel.

The Treble Chorale, an all-female ensemble made up of sophomores, juniors and seniors, will change things up with an international and folk-music flair.

Beginning with Gloria Deo, followed by Steven Sametz’s Irish Lullaby, they will perform the Greek folk song The Kalanta of the New Year, accompanied by guest artist Amalie Montstream on hammered dulcimer. Treble Chorale, like the other groups, will perform an a cappella piece, in this case Letter from a Girl to the World, a contemporary piece written for the Bel Canto Choir. This piece has text adapted from the Bel Canto choir and features original text written by SHS Treble Chorale students.

Chorale, the high school’s primary mixed choir, all upperclassmen, will also perform world music pieces as well as a beautiful classical music piece, Gloria from Josef Haydn’s 1802 mass Harmoniemesse.

The other three songs represent France (the carol Masters in this Hall), Nigeria (Bethelehemu, which will be accompanied by student percussion ensemble); and Israel with Lo V’Chayil (Not By Might), Elliot Levine’s Hebrew language song highlighting text from the Haftorah.

The school’s three student-run a cappella groups will also perform. The all-female, 16-member No Fella A Cappella, led by seniors Anna Riccuiti and Hannah Petruzzi and junior Kristin Weiss, will perform Ms. Petruzzi’s arrangement of Mariah Carey’s breezy ode to holiday romance, All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Andiamo, the 18-member mixed-voice a cappella group directed by junior Kate Campolieta, will perform the classic 1934 standard Winter Wonderland, arranged by Ms. Campolieta and featuring special ginger choreography.

The all-male 11-member Unaccompanied Minors, directed by junior Gabriel Garcia and sophomore William Shaw, who also arranged the song, will give a male spin to Santa Baby, first performed by chanteuse Eartha Kitt in 1953 and a staple of holiday shows ever since.

The Simsbury High music staff and students invite everyone -- parents, students and members of the community -- to attend this wonderful spirit-of-the-season concert and support music in our schools. The concert will be professionally recorded and CDs will be available for purchase.

Ensembles in Order of Appearance:

Freshman Woman’s Choir: Alana Barker, Sarah Bonchick, Erin Brett, Nicole Briand, Sophie Capobianco, Samantha Chesanek, Emma Conroy, Bailee Cota, Anna Cowley, Emme Crystal, Sydney Daoud, Hannah Denhof, Maria Diaz-Islas, Katherine Dzenko, Mary Firestone, Carolyn Flammini, Madeline Gamer, Meaghan Ging, Molly Grossman, Laure Guilbert, Angelina Hartnett, Rebecca Hartnett, Maria Hodson, Ava Kahl, Hannah Kovel, Haley Latorre, Emily McMann, Kaley Melanson, Katie Palms, Caroline Pane, Lindsay Paquette, Katherine Robinson, Grace Rogers, Grace Sullivan, Mallory Thompson, Sophie Thompson, Rige Grajcevci

Chorale: Melissa Acheson, Kate Addis, Rachel Aponte, Ana Ashchepkova, Grace Bailey, Jameson Boeshans, Ian Braverman, Justin Butchyk, Paula Cameron, Hannah Cary, Ian Cosgrove, Kimberly Day, Taylor Denges, Nate Donahue, Julia Dowd, Grant Duford, Gabriel Garcia, Alexander Ging, Brian Hanshaw, Emma Hardee, Gerald Jackson, Jacob Katz, Jessica Kull, Emma Kyzivat, Grant Lammey, Austin Lazo, Jacob Lill, Patrick Lyman, Guiliana Marchetti, Jack Medve, Carolyn O’Seep, Katelyn Paddock, Maiya Pascouche, Brenna Pellon, Anna Ricciuti, Allison Salina, Christine Schiller, William Shaw, Kaylee West

No Fella A Cappella: Kate Angus, Hannah Cary, Olivia Coe, Maia Czaikowski, Zoe Eisenhaure, Naomi Garcia, Maddie Gastonguay, Hannah Petruzzi, Emma Kyzivat, Katelyn Paddock, Maiya Pascouche, Brenna Pellon, Anna Ricciuti, Christine Schiller, Kristin Weiss and Sarah Zahorodni

Treble Chorale: Cate Alix, Camryn Aponte, Sarah Baierwick, Madison Bailey, Rachel Baumann, Emily Candels, Allison Colglazier, Belen Dumont, Maya Eckert, Zoë Eisenhaure, Katie Euting, Shannon Frasca, Naomi Garcia, Sienna Golden, Maddie Haas, Taylor Jackson, Tiarra Jackson, Katie Keene, Sophie Levesque, Paige Lindsay, Alex Marecki, Lucy Merriam, Jaylynn Moffat-Mowatt, Gabby Ostrov, Sarah Poirot, Devon Shugdinis, Isabella Zhao

Andiamo: Brendan Barnard, Emily Bautista, Kate Campolieta, Katie Campson, Anna Cowley, Kimberly Day, Nate Donohue, Julia Dowd, Rige Grajcevci, Alexander Ging, Haley Latorre, Kaela Morse, Caroline Pane, Casey Root, Kyle St. Sauveur, Grace Sullivan, Mallory Thompson, and Drew Zenick

Simsbury Singers: Kate Angus, Isabel Bielat, Kate Campolieta, Olivia Coe, Maia Czaikowski, Emily Fritz, Madeleine Gastonguay, Halley Haruta, Allison May, Kaela Morse, Hannah Petruzzi, Casey Root, Sarah Ursini, Kristin Weiss, Dana Winslow, Sarah Zahorodni

Unaccompanied Minors: David Black, Ian Braverman, Cameron DeLo, Gabriel Garcia, Luke Gilmore, Brian Hanshaw, Jacob Katz, Kenan King, Jacob Lill, Patrick Lyman, William Shaw

Concert Choir: Timothy Amarell, Benjamin Armstong, Brendan Barnard, David Black, Nolan Carrier, Jarin Daniels, Matt DeAngelo, Cameron DeLo, Luke Gilmore, James Huang, Joshua Keene, Kenan King, Brendan McDermott, Andrew Mylander, Cameron Rosenthal, Nicholas Sandborn, Sean Sinacori, Marc Sokolson, Kyle St. Saveur, Tyler Thomas, Christopher Wildman, Drew Zenick

Accompanist – Barbara Robbins