Winter holiday concert puts on a great show

Parents, students, and faculty piled into the Auditorium last week to watch the music department perform the annual Holiday Concert. The event was hosted by music directors Diane Marelli, James Baum, and Kevin McOlgan.

Each part of the music department worked over the past months to get their songs ready for the four performances they put on last week. Every day the madrigals, bands, and orchestra put in countless hours towards the concert.

The concert started of with “Joy to the World’ with Combined Choirs and Brass Choir, that previewed a great start for the rest of the concert. A majority of the songs were Christmas songs, but McOlgan added “Mambo No. 5” played by the Jazz Band which was a well-performed song featuring soloists including senior Keith Brauer.

The Madrigals who are the elite singers of the school,  sang “Winter Wonderland” and worked well together to put on such a fine piece. Senior Madrigal singer Clara Shaw said, “It is a lot of fun to sing with the madrigals and we blend well together.”  They also performed “What Sweeter Music” by John Rutter.

When Men’s Ensemble jumped onto the stage, they put on great piece called Highlights from “Jersey Boys”. They acted out some of the lyrics, and hit some high pitched notes making the crowd errupt in cheers and laughter.  It was one of the best performances of the night and most entertaining.

Tears began to fall from the parents’ eyes as the whole music department played their final three songs. The singers walked down the aisles with candles and sang all together in unison. It was a great final set of songs to finish off the holiday concert and to thank all the people who attended the concerts and to wish them a happy holidays this season.

Football about more than just the game

On Friday, August 27th, Shuey Stadium was packed full of fans not only to support the football team but also to see the Poms, Cheerleaders, and Marching Band.

The marching band performed before the game and at half time. Before the game they played the school fight song and at half time they played “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”, “I’ve Got You”, “I Feel Good’, and “Think”.

Junior band member Molly Chaney said, “It’s great to finally perform after all the practicing.” The marching band practiced for six hours, four days a week before school started.

Performing along with the band are the Poms. They have a routine to the school fight song, as well as a routine to perform at halftime without the band.  The Poms practice three times a week for two hours and have a new routine for every game.  “We are looking forward to our competition season coming up this winter,” said junior team member Kara Kruse.

True to their names the cheerleaders led the crowd the entire game.  At half time they performed a routine learned just a day in advance. “We learn a new routine every Thursday before a game,” junior cheerleader Rachel Konopacz said.  The cheerleaders are also looking forward to their competition season this winter. The squad is led by their captains Kristi Cassano and Maeve Clohrety.

Fine Arts department keeping busy during winter season

During the winter and holiday season, the Riverside Fine Arts department hosts and has students perform at a number of events. The holiday season is one of the main times when RB students get a chance to showcase their artistic abilities.

The main musical event during the season is the Holiday Concert. An annual tradition, the Holiday Concert is an excellent display of students’ musical talent and hard work. This year the concert took place on Thursday, December 10^th. Students from the bands, choirs, and the orchestra all performed for students, staff, families, and local community members.

In addition, several other musical groups performed, or will perform at other events. The Madrigal Singers, RB’s premier vocal group, had a staggering number of concerts during December. With over eight concerts in December alone, The Madrigal Singers have been busy filling the surrounding community with holiday cheer.

The annual All State music festival is at the end of January. RB has six students representing our high school this year, and the music faculty is excited to have such a large representation. Being selected as an All State Finalist is a significant achievement and requires lots of hard work and effort.

In February, the music department begins its “winter concert” series, an event featuring all three music departments performing concerts in three successive weeks.

Music is not the only area where students are displaying their talents and abilities. The RB dance program, in particular the Repertory Dance Ensemble, is busy during the winter season. The talented dancers preformed at the Riverside and Brookfield Holiday Festivals on December, 4^th 2009, and have a number of concerts planned for January and February. On January 15^th, the Dancers are hosting a concert in the Little Theater to raise money for AIDS research.

In addition to the numerous concerts, the RB dance program is submitting two of their dances to be potentially preformed at a state dance festival. Committee meetings are also starting for the Illinois High School State Dance Festival, as it will be held here at RB for the first time ever.

Drama students are also busy during this time of the year. Improv Club, a new club here at RB, had their troupe put on a performance on December 11^th, 2009.

In the art world, the murals that students have been working so hard on were finally unveiled on December 4^th, 2009. The Winter Art show, the Art Department’s biggest winter event, is being held on January 7^th, soon after school resumes.

Musicians perform annual Holiday Concert

On Friday, December 11^th 2009, RBHS musicians preformed the annual Holiday concert for both students, staff, parents and other community members. During the day, the musicians preformed an abbreviated version of the full concert for students and staff. Later in the evening, the full concert, involving all musical groups performing all their prepared music, took place.

This year, due to construction on the building, the concert was held in the gymnasium, as the auditorium is mid-renovation. While probably not the ideal location for the concert, as the gym isn’t built with acoustics in mind, the gym worked well enough and the concert was still able to be held. The renovated Auditorium will be back in use for future concerts.

Band Director James Baum was very pleased with the concert, stating, “I thought [the winter concert] was great! All the groups sounded wonderful, but I was especially pleased with the orchestra, the chamber orchestra, and the Jazz ensemble.”

Students in all music departments, band, orchestra, and choir, preformed various holiday songs for the crowd. The concert started out with the combined ensembles playing all together and ended with the traditional playing of “White Christmas” with alumni helping to sing.

The night lasted about an hour and a half, and was filled with over twenty musical acts. Highlights from the show included the Chamber Orchestra playing “Winter” by Vivaldi featuring freshman Kenzo Esquivel, and the Madrigal Singers singing a highly comical rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” The Jazz ensemble’s tunes were also a crowd favorite.

Baum added, “Senior Jim Sit played a really artistic and tasteful solo on Gingerbread Boy, and Kenzo Esquivel and the chamber orchestra were sublime.”