The winter choir, band and orchestra concerts took place over the month of November. These events showcased numerous students and their talents along with proof of their hard work and dedication. Parents, friends and staff were invited to enjoy the music at many locations in the surrounding areas. 

The first performance to be held this November was the Concert Choir’s on Nov. 3 at the St Andrews Church in Mahtomedi. The performance included every choir in the district from grades eight through high school seniors. This is to encourage young singers to continue their musical journey and to showcase the improvement and increased difficulty over the years.

One song in the show was an Estonian piece on nature and tranquility. Although the song was in another language and the words may not have made sense, the meaning was loud and clear. 

 “You can totally understand the feeling of what that’s trying to convey based on the visual emotions of the choir,” senior Adam Long said.

The practice and time put in were seen at the concert through a smooth flow and sound that filled every corner of the room, leaving the audience in awe. 

The second show to take place was the band concert. This performance included grades five, eight and seniors. Each level band played a few songs to show their talent and went from least to most experienced to show the progression over many years of practice. When the seniors hit the stage, they performed many songs. One included a lesson on how accurate and perfect each person needs to play, the song was called A Plus. This piece features two parts, a perfect part where each player plays every note how it was intended to, and another part where each person made one mistake. The second part, although 99 percent accurate, filled the audience’s ears with disgust, teaching everyone how practiced and talented a successful band needs to be.

Band director Dennis Lindsay wanted the audience to understand that “certain activities aren’t gradable in the sense of just getting all the right notes, you have to have something a lot more there than that,” went they left the concert. 

The last show was the orchestra concert. This concert took place on Nov. 17 at the high school. The performance showcased many prepared and skilled young adults. One piece they presented was called In the Company of Angels. This piece featured a harp along with many very high-pitched parts. Wood instruments can pose some difficulty when attempting to hit those higher notes, so this stretch piece required lots of practice.

Junior Eme Rickheim said she hopes the audience could see the group’s hard work and dedication after hearing how well-practiced and perfect the music sounded.

November was full of musical sounds for all to enjoy. A lot of hard work, time and effort were put into the choir, band and orchestra winter concerts. Many special talents and unique techniques were presented and Long thinks the group “has done a really good job of just taking it on” and “being willing to challenge their abilities”.