It’s the season we’ve all been waiting for, hot chocolate, cold days, ice-skating with friends, and our all time favorite event of the holiday season — the Annual Holiday Concert.

The holiday concert is a combination of both the choir and the orchestra of Niles West. The different levels of these two programs will be performing different and unique songs that are made for their skill set and ability, which they have learned through their orchestra and choir classes.

“I’m in Master Singers and I’m very excited to perform because we put so much hard work and effort in these songs. Also, I am excited to sing the song, ‘Peace on Earth’ since it’s a tradition for the choir, but also because it is my last time singing it in my high school career,” said senior Auggie Ahn. 

The choirs that will be performing in Friday’s concert will be the curriculum choirs, which are the choirs that meet through the day, everyday. The choirs are the Choraliers, Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, and Master Singers.

“What I am most excited about for this concert is the gospel arrangement of the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus. A lot people are not familiar with it and will not be expecting it from us. I’m all about the element of surprise and doing the things that are not expected, so I am looking forward to that and the excitement of all the kids getting together and having a nice time,” said choir director, Matthew Hunter.

The Choraliers are doing the song “Shop till You Drop,” which plays on the chaos of the shopping craziness that occurs during the holidays. During their performance they will have big large shopping bags and festive holiday sweaters. 

Hunter has taken over choir this year since the departure of choir director Amy Branahl last year. The changing of directors, could be a hard adjustment for students who already knew the old habits of Branahl. The students seem to have taken the change in stride, though.

“Hunter has a different teaching style than Branahl. He has a lot of fun in class and makes it a really comfortable and funny environment but also knows when we need to buckle down and get stuff done. His first year is going great. I think he adjusted quickly because all of the choirs sound amazing and they are all running in unique ways. He makes sure we all know what we are doing and have fun while doing it,” sophomore Jana Marquez said.

The concert allows students from the choir and the orchestra department to show off their skills and talents to their fellow peers and parents and show the hard work they have put into doing this concert  which they have been working on for months since October.

“I’m really grateful to be apart of symphonic orchestra alongside many talented players. I’m especially excited for this Friday’s concert where we get to play many challenging pieces by Tchaikovsky, including ‘The Nutcracker.’ We have worked extremely hard to perfect each and every piece, so I’m very excited to play these pieces to everyone,” said senior Kristeen Bebla.

Make sure to check out the concert this Friday, December 9th in the Auditorium at 6:30 P.M.