Winter was a recurring theme Thursday afternoon as third-grade students at Becker Intermediate School presented “Winter in the Music Room”, an eclectic 11-song concert that celebrated the joys of the season along with patriotism and hot chocolate under the direction of music specialist Holly St. Germain.
Four individual classrooms took part in the performance, including students from Mrs. Kaehler’s class, Mrs. Kasper/Mrs. Johnson’s class, Mr. Olson’s class and Mr. Stupak’s class. Students also played percussion instruments and the xylophone to accompany several of the songs during the program, while others sang complex counter-melody arrangements.
The program began with a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, followed by a medley of patriotic songs from composer/lyricists George M. Cohan, Woody Guthrie and Katharine Bates. Winter tunes included I Don’t Care if the Snow Comes Down, A Perfect Winter Day and the closing number, Hot Chocolate.
Folk songs were also popular, including the Appalachian classic Cumberland Gap, plus John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, one from Virginia titled Sun Don’t Set in the Morning, and a Nigerian folk song called Eh Soom Boo Kawaya.
The audience appeared to be ready to celebrate winter as well, as there were very few empty seats in the Little Gymnasium at the school, despite the very cold temperatures prevailing outdoors.
