Vocalists and instrumentalists will come together on December 19, performing as a group in the Holiday Extravaganza at the Performing Arts Center for the community to come and enjoy.

The holiday themed concert will begin at 7:00pm, with performances from Bare Voices and Blue Notes, as well as Chamber Strings. The concert contains pieces spanning a wide variety of music; performances consisting of popular holiday songs and unique takes on traditional holiday music, according to Angela Fortune, Blue Notes teacher.

“This concert’s very different from the others,” Jack Frommelt, sophomore member of Bare Voices, said. “All the groups involved are the more unique groups. Bare Voices sings a-capella, Blue Notes dances while performing, and Chamber Strings performs more pop music than traditional orchestral music.” 

Although the pieces are more popular than traditional choral/orchestral music, the audience can still expect to be surprised by the creative choices made by the individual choirs. Blue Notes is performing a medley of ‘Rockin Around The Christmas Tree,’ ‘Let it Snow,’ and more, according to Fortune, while Chamber Strings will be playing four different pieces of music at the concert: “Holly and the Ivy,” “Pat-a-Pan,” “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” and “Scotch and Chocolate,” according to Nathan Sackschewsky, orchestra teacher.

The medley is just one of the many artistic liberties taken by the choirs, Samantha Mumbower, senior leader in Blue Notes, said. Both choirs focus on personalizing the music they perform.

“It’s cool because we get a lot of freedom when preparing for this,” Mumbower said. “Ms. Fortune […] gives us free reign. While she supervises, we get to come up with the choreography and choose the songs. It’s so rewarding knowing when we get applause, it’s because of something we put together.”

Members of Chamber Strings have been practicing these songs independently since September and join together as a group every Thursday after school.

“I think they’re prepared,” Sackschewsky said, “They’re working really hard on the music and practicing independently so I think they’re very eager to present their hard work to the audience.”

All the extra work, however, is worth it in the end, Mumbower said. Her love of music and performing justifies the extra practice and hard work put into making the Holiday Extravaganza a great show.

“As more time goes on, it’s really rewarding to see how a dance and a song comes together,” Mumbower said. “The more we practice, the more we can get every move down and hit every note. I feel a lot of pride seeing everybody getting better and better until we’re at our best on the night of the show.”

The hard work and hitting every notes is good motivation, giving the audience a present is even better, according to Nandini Rangan, freshman in Chamber Strings.

“The best part about these holiday concerts is that everyone goes home with a present,” Rangan said. “Whether it be a renewed holiday spirit or even just the sound of a good and catchy song.”