Friday, December 6, marked the annual San Marino Unified School District winter choir performance, with groups from both Huntington Middle School and the high school performing in front of a large audience inside of the Webb Theater. All groups, conducted by Mr. Derek Jamieson, brought both their best voices and best holiday spirit, creating a festive atmosphere on that cold December night. “I think the winter concert went as good as we could have asked for,” said Helene Miller, 12, a member of the chamber choir.
The show began with the three HMS choirs: Cantate, Vivace, and the highest choir, Bel Canto. Cantate started off the show with a rendition of “What’s This?” from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, before singing “Huddle Close” by Hank Beebe. Vivace followed this up with “O Holy Night” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Bel Canto hit the stage after, with the zero period class singing “Walking in the Air” and “I’ll Be on My Way” by Howard Blake and Shawn Kirchner respectively. The Huntington portion of the show concluded with a joint performance by the three choirs, singing “Candlelight Carol” and two songs from How The Grinch Stole Christmas: “Where Are You Christmas” and “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”
After a brief intermission, the choirs from the high school began, with Concert Choir giving their performances of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Who Has Seen The Wind.” Chamber Choir took the stage next, with the top choir in the school district singing “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” and a medley of three Hanukkah songs, which featured S’Evion, Nerli, and Hanukkah, o Hanukkah. When both choirs from the high school took the stage, Mimi Berstein, 11, gave a riveting solo during the performance of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)” before the SMHS choirs harmonized for their last two songs of the night: “Here We Come A-Caroling” and “Brightest and Best.”
Before the show concluded, the HMS choir re-entered the stage, as the five choirs of the school district performed a beautiful rendition of “Carol of the Bells.” After the show, bittersweet feelings were clearly present in the seniors of the choir. As Miller described, “As a Senior, I’m sad to be leaving this behind, but I’m eager to come back and watch future shows.” Many share this sentiment, as they eagerly await for future performances from the SMUSD choirs.
