As the first semester comes to a close, all of the music ensembles (University Singers, US Males, Glee Club, Orchestra, and Jazz Ensemble) will be having their annual holiday concerts. Each ensemble has put in many hours of preparation, both inside and outside of school, for the upcoming concerts. The music department would appreciate your support for your fellow peers by coming to one of the concerts.

At the Holiday Concert on December 11, at 7:30 pm, the University Singers, Glee Club, US Males, and the Orchestra will be performing.

This is the first concert for the University Singers. The University Singers is a group comprised of 9^th grade singers. They will be performing “Light” from Next to Normal with support from the Glee Club and instrumentalists from the Orchestra. The US Singers will also perform “Come, Ye Sons of Art” by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) with the principal string players from the Orchestra.

The Glee Club, comprised of 10^th to 12^th graders will be performing “Noel,” an African Christmas song, and “Dúlamán,” an Irish folk song.

The US Males will be performing “Jesse’s Girl” by Rick Springfield, and Billy Joel’s “Lullaby.”

The US Orchestra will perform Pyoter Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Overture” and “Holst’s Second Suite in F” (III. Song of the Blacksmith and IV. Fantasia on the Dargason).

As an extra incentive to come, there will be cookies and juice provided after the concert.

The music ensembles will also be performing at the installation of Headmaster Gallagher on December 7th. Mr. Gallagher requested for students to perform at his installation, so the Glee Club, Orchestra, Jazz Band, University Singers, and middle school ensembles will be performing (High Tops Choral Ensemble and Junior Choir).

The Orchestra will be playing Holst and Tchaikovsky. The Glee Club, US Singers, and Orchestra will be performing Come, Ye Sons of Art written by Henry Purcell (1659-1695).

Cellist Henry Shapard, US Alum, will be performing Gustav Holst’s Invocation.

The Upper and Lower school choruses will be performing “I’ve Got Peace Like a River,” an African-American Spiritual arranged by Rollo Dilworth.

Regarding the Jazz Ensemble, Mr. Kay provided the following:

The US Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Mr. Kay (teaching at US for the 31^st year), will be playing their Holiday Jingle Jam (their annual holiday concert) Thursday night December 6 at 7 PM in the HV Upper Commons.  They’ll be playing the music of Miles Davis (one of the most important musicians even in jazz), Horace Silver (one of the great composer/pianists in jazz) and Dave Brubeck featuring changing time signatures (Brubeck was one of the most popular jazz musicians ever in the history of jazz)

Also, we will be lifting up senior Ben Chao, as he will be featured soloist on John Coltrane’s ‘Central Park West’ – and the Ensemble will be playing the first ever jazz ensemble arrangement written by Ben; a version of the great jazz trumpet player Clifford Brown’s piece, ‘Sandu’.

Additionally, an original tune by senior bassist Kees Austin will be played by the Jazz Combo, an improvisation-oriented smaller group drawn from the larger Ensemble.

And – the Ensemble will be performing an arrangement of ‘Little Drummer Boy’ by ear, using no music.

This approach to performing without written music is a key aspect of the tradition of jazz as well as most music around the world.

There are many students that are part of these music ensembles, and Mr. Singer, Mr. Kay, and all of the musicians hope that you come support all of the music programs.

Major Concert Days:

Jazz Ensemble – December 6 at 7pm in the HV Upper Commons

Glee Club, University Singers, Orchestra, High Tops Choral Ensemble, Junior Choir – December 7 for Installation Ceremony