Parking was at a premium Monday night as the combined Becker High School choirs presented their annual Holiday concert, this year titled: “Sounds of the Season.” And while the parking lot was at capacity, the new 900-seat Performing Arts Center easily handled the large audience, providing comfortable accommodations while still allowing room for the rapid and orderly transition of the choral groups from the audience to the stage and back. That may sound like a small thing, but those smooth transitions made an enjoyable performance even more so for the audience and the performers.
Vocal music teacher Kristi Lovold began the performance by introducing the 9th grade choir. Who sang their opening number, “African Noel”, accompanied by choir director Gretchen Bordson playing an African drum. Their program also included “Sending You a Little Christmas” and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”
The 10th grade choir was up next, presenting “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree,” “Carol Him Sweetly,” (Laura Niday, piano, and Allyna Storms, flute), and “Jingle Bells.” That choir was immediately followed by the 9-12 Men’s Chorus performing Irving Berlin’s classic “White Christmas,” (Joe Perry, soloist.)
Bordson then introduced the concert choir, who took the stage with a series of traditional carols featuring complex melodies, including “The Holly and the Ivy,” “This Christmastide,” and “Fum Fum Fantasy,” a song the director said she had enjoyed performing while a university student. After those songs, the 9-12 Women’s Chorus presented an arrangement of “Carol of the Bells/Sing We Now of Christmas.”
The chamber choir then took stage to sing “The Sleigh,”, followed by “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as performed by the group “Straight No Chaser” (Andy Johnson, soloist). They then performed Kirby Shaw/s “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow,” which featured the “a capella group” (Lindsey Baloun, Briana Baumgartner, Katherine Berning, Erica Brovold, Mckenzie Bursch, Joshua Drury, Jade Erson, Caleb Foster, Megan Graftaas, Jessica Haecherl, Katelyn Holstad, Shelby Huebert, Olivia Hultgren, Andrew Johnson, Jackson Lefebvre, Cassandra Lenneman, Sydney Mastey, Collin McDowell, Joseph Perry, Isaac Poop, Carolyn Schneider, Aimee Schulz and Zachary Woolhouse.)
The program then concluded with a medley of “Happy Holidays/Auld Lang Syne” (Sammy Gruber and Collin McDowell, soloists, Joe Perry, drums.)
The program notes included special thanks to the following: Jessica Gilbertson, Greg Lynch, Rich Kimmerle, Rose Peterson, BHS Principal Sandy Logrono, BHS Asst. Principal Mark Kolbinger, the BHS custodial staff and BHS students Joe Perry, Laura Niday, Allyna Storms, Sue Doering and Justin Kimmerle.
