Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s choir program presented its annual winter concert on January 5.
It showcased diverse pieces of music throughout six curricular and extracurricular ensembles, consisting of Mixed Choir, Select Treble, Symphonic Choir, Ensembros, Glee and Lorelei.
Commencing promptly at 7 p.m., the event had a significant turnout, with many parents and accompanying family members arriving to watch their young singers perform.
One parent who attended said that there was “such talent on the stage. It was a great variety of music performed by all the different choirs. I enjoyed the concert.”
The first ensemble to perform was the Mixed Choir, which included singers from all grade levels. They performed the musical selections titled “Bonse Aba” by Victor C. Johnson, “River in Judea” by Jack Feldman and “Saints Bound For Heaven,” an American Folk Hymn.
Following them was Select Treble, a curricular ensemble consisting of soprano and alto singers who auditioned for placement. Their musical selections included “Sonntag” by Johannes Brahms, “The Sally Gardens” by Benjamin Britten and “This Little Light of Mine,” a traditional American song.
After that, Ensembros, an extracurricular ensemble consisting of individuals with tenor and baritone voices performed the song “As Long As We Got Each Other” by Steve Dorff and John Bettis. Then, the GLEE Ensemble, an extracurricular a-cappella group for all voices sang “Don’t Let Me Down” by John Lennon. Concluding the extracurricular ensembles, the Lorelei Ensemble, a highly advanced female voice ensemble performed “Shosholoza,” a traditional Zimbabwean tune, and “I Will Be Earth” by Gwyneth Walker.
Finally, the Honors Symphonic Choir, an audition-only curricular ensemble consisting of a broad vocal range performed four pieces of music. Their repertoire was composed of “Weihnachten, #1 of Op. 79” by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, “Mille Regretz” by Josquin Des Prez, “No La Debemos Dormir” by Christina Whitten Thomas and “I’m Gonna Sing ‘Til The Spirit Moves In My Heart” by Moses Hogan.
To close off the night, every choir student united to sing “The Storm Is Passing Over” by Charles Albert Tindley.
The winter choir concert was the first performance in the recently renovated auditorium, a project that started at the beginning of the school year.
Nicholas Venet, a junior in the Honors Symphonic Choir, commented on the renovated auditorium.
“The new lighting and sound system helped the choir students shine brighter and provide a more lasting impact on our audience,” he said.
Venet also commended the amount of practice each student had in preparing for this performance.
“The choirs prepared very well and each student put in a great amount of effort to make this performance the best it could be. We owe it all to Dr. Wilson for his expertise and wonderful musical selections,” Venet said.
Looking ahead, the next choir performances are scheduled for Broadway Night on February 28 and 29.
