The Golden Secondary School band and choir are getting ready for their annual Christmas concert, scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. Admission to the concert, which will also include refreshments following the performance, is by donation only. Money raised will go towards funding upcoming music trips. Art from students will also be showcased at the school before the show starting at 6:30, as well as during the intermission.
The band is led by Matt Fellows, who took over from Doug Orr just this year. Fellows leads both the senior band and the grade eight band. The music selection will feature a couple of medleys, including Pop Go the Classics, which includes recognizable music from the 1700s to the 1900s. Clarinets, flutes, violins and trumpets are a few of the sections in the senior band. While the band won’t feature any soloists, the trumpets and clarinets both have their own featured songs. The trumpets shine in the William Tell Overture, and the clarinets take centre stage for Green Sleeves. Also performing will be a saxophone quartet, made up of three students and the now-retired Orr.
The choir, which will be performing in new uniforms this year, is the largest group they’ve had since Gloria Lowe took over as the director six years ago. The group is made up of 25 girls and will be performing a selection of pieces, including Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. For that number, student Shayla McKay will conduct the choir, as Lowe’s services will be needed elsewhere.
“We don’t have a pianist, so I have to play the piano,” Lowe laughed.
For the grand finale, the concert band and the choir will perform together as an ensemble.
Shelby Klassen, an alto in the choir and in her final year at Golden Secondary, is very excited for the show.
“I’m just really looking forward to performing, that’s probably my favourite thing to do,” she said. “I think that you could probably say that for almost everybody in band and choir.”
