Leesville’s winter chorus concert will take place in the auditorium on Dec. 7. The concert rehearsal was held in the auditorium Dec. 5. Rehearsal is an intense and organized two and a half hour run through of every song for the concert.
The rehearsal is closed to everyone outside of the choral program. The lack of audience helps the 186 members of LRHS chorus focus on learning and perfecting each piece of music.
The concert will open with the processional, “Issay, Issay!”, an Ethiopian Christmas song. The groups that follow are beginning, intermediate and Capital Pride choruses. Beginning chorus opens with “Let the prayers go round” after the processional, a baroque round, where soprano, alto, tenor and bass sections sing at different times throughout the song.
Amanda Wolf, freshman and member of beginning chorus, describes her first concert rehearsal. “I’m not really sure what I was expecting. I think it [rehearsal] went pretty well, there weren’t very many things wrong, [and] there was a lot of good singing. We still have things to work on, but there is always something to work on.”
Chorus members sing the men and women’s songs in between beginning and intermediate’s performances. The women will sing “Juntos”, a high energy Spanish song which means together. The men will sing “Feliz Navidad”, a classic Spanish Christmas song, meaning Merry Christmas.
Intermediate starts their set with “Carol of The Bells”, a popular chant-like Christmas folk song with descriptive articulation. Capital Pride will sing “We Three Kings”, a rhythmic, upbeat seasonal song with added percussion.
Madi McNair, senior and member of Capital Pride, feels more at ease singing in her last winter concert, “I think rehearsal is a little more relaxed than it’s been in the past years because I know what I’m getting into. It’s sad in a way, I’m never going be able to do another winter concert, but at the same time it’s exciting because I know I’m going to start at a new place soon.
It’s a different feeling in Capital Pride, a lot of us have been singing together for a long time. It doesn’t seem as harsh as my other years in chorus. Before, you would expect people to be mad at you if you messed up, but in CP, everyone just tries to fix it, everyone wants the best for the group.”
After Capital Pride, all chorus members perform “Nut Cracker Jingles,” a compilation of every tune in The Nut Cracker with added cheerful holiday lyrics. The concert finishes out with “Hallelujah Chorus”, a dramatic crowd pleaser, which traditionally ends every Leesville winter chorus concert. Students await excitedly to begin music for the next chorus concert in May.
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