The high school concert choir and band have been preparing for their annual winter concert performances.

Choir teachers, Ms. Rachel Beeksma and Mr. Carl Helder, have been rehearsing the selected songs for the concert with their classes. 

“I can’t wait to see it all come together,” Beeksma said regarding her first concert choir in Glen Rock.

The choir will be performing five songs, including Homeward Bound, Adiemus, Blow, Blow, Winter Wind, Gloria, and Encore.

Encore is a traditional and cheerful piece that is performed annually to conclude the concert. This tradition has been going on for almost 15 years.

“All of the pieces that we chose have a variety of styles. The first song, Homeward Bound, is slower, Adiemus is more tribal and upbeat, Blow, Blow, Winter Wind is slower piece and gives an eerie feeling, and Gloria is long, complex, and upbeat,” Beeksma said.

A few members of the after school ensembles and the women’s group will be performing solos and a duet. Melanie Lota (’16), Mandy Rosengren (’16) and Caitlin Rundle (’18) will be performing solos and Rundle will be singing a duet with Bennie Fontana (’16) as well.

Along with the choir, the band also performs in the concert.

Mr. Jeffrey Kurland, the band’s conductor, has been participating in the winter concert since 2003. This year, the band will be performing Celebration and Song, Fairytale of New York, and Oh, What Fun!.

“The program starts off with something energetic to get the audience’s attention, then a fun piece, and finishes with a march. This year’s march, Oh, What Fun! is actually based around some well-known holiday tunes, so we are ‘killing two birds with one stone,'” Kurland said.

The pieces are similar in theme to the ones performed last year, which were Jubilance, Winter Holiday, and The Gladiator March.

“This year’s songs are a little easier. Because the football season went so long, we had a little less time to prepare,” Kurland said.

The concert will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 16. at 7:30 p.m. in the MS/HS auditorium.