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.

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.