“I’ll be hooome for Christ-mas / You can counnttt on me,” sang the Upper-School Chorus along with some Montrose Alumnae at the annual Christmas concert. Wait, Alumnae? That’s right! With the new home for all Montrose performances comes new traditions.
The Treblemakers, the a cappella group at Montrose, decided to add a new twist to their already stunning performances: choreography. Singing is not a talent everybody possesses, and dancing is a feat in itself — and the a capella group did both. After long rehearsals directed by Maddie Crump ’15, they finally pulled it off — and props to them; they did an amazing job!
Speaking of an amazing job, the Middle School Chorus in their black skirts and white shirts sung their hearts out onstage. The middle school were the first ones to use the A&A with their performance of Annie, so they rightfully opened the first Chorus performance in the A&A.
And while the Montrosians sung “Angels Did Sing,” the Upper School Chorus was directed by a new face this year, Ms. French. She did a great job for her first year at Montrose, so be sure to congratulate her if you see her in the hallways. A medley of “Winter Wonderland,” “Jesus fili virgine,” and “Angels Did Sing” was executed with the perfection that seems to characterize Montrosians.
Related to the Upper School, there was a new twist on the Upper School Handbells: the addition of faculty in the performance. There were “more notes than people, and in order to enrich the listening experience for the audience we got the faculty involved,” said Elizabeth Prabakaran ’17 who is in her second year of Handbells and Chorus. I have to admit, I did was not at first excited to hear bells, but it was angelic! The synchronization was on point, and it was evident that all the performers had practiced a lot and enjoyed performing.
In addition to the singing was the most awaited part of the show for the little ones: the arrival of Santa Claus. My five-year-old sister Alina lit up at the sound of the bells and exclaimed, “hey look it’s Santa, mommy, it’s Santa!” — over and over until he and his elf went up to the stage. It’s a nice little twist on Winter Concerts that Montrose does every year to please the younger children, and it’s a success.
So congratulations to everyone who participated in the Annual Montrose Winter Concert, I hope to hear many more wonderful performances starting with the Spring concert in the new year!.