Westford CAT Brings “Ball in the House” Holiday Performance to Local Homes Around the State

By Lauren Horton, Manager

Thanks to a group of volunteers and Westford CAT staff, last Friday’s a cappella performance by “Ball in the House” will be shown on public access channels Comcast 8 and Verizon 35 (and online) through the holiday season. The performance was the culmination of a daylong visit by the five performers that make up the musical group. Sponsored by the Westford Elementary and Middle School Parent Teachers Organizations, the program was produced by Heidi Tierney, Elementary School PTO chairperson for Arts and Education programming. 

Earlier in the day, the group presented at two schoolwide assemblies first at the Stonybrook School and later back to the Blanchard School, where their evening performance took place. The group shared the history of a cappella with the Westford middle schoolers, demonstrating how they use their voices as instruments, and work together in harmony.  Students were shown how performing arts is creative and fun and worth pursuing while staying involved in sports or other academic clubs.

The group also did a collaboration workshop with the West Street Seranaders, a choral group at the Blanchard School. The young performers sang both before Ball in the House and again at the end of the show. Their performance is also being shown on Westford CAT channels and is online as well.

Proceeds from the concert will go to future arts and education programming within the school. Previous performances sponsored and funded by the Westford PTO include Blue Jupiter, which also performed an a cappella holiday concert, Odaiko, a Japanese drumming group and Body-ology, a wellness initiave for grades 2-3.

Westford CAT volunteers Newell Tillman, John Brotherson, and Ira Keltz along with Westford CAT staff Anya Zulawnik, Dan LeBlanc and myself served as recording crew for the evening. This program is available to other community access centers around Massachusetts through MyMassTV. The statewide server was recently launched to help access centers around the state share programs.

For schedules and times watch Westford CAT’s Community Bulletin Board or go to westfordcat.org/tv-schedules.