Choir’s Holiday Extravaganza
December 16, 2018
You would be surprised about all of the expenses the choir classes have at Legacy. For this very reason, this past Tuesday all choirs participated in a fundraiser called Holiday Extravaganza.
And this past Tuesday, all of the choirs put on an amazing performance.
“The Christmas concert [is my favorite] because it’s more fun and laid back than normal,” student Bridget Glaspey says. She is a sophomore in Advanced Women’s Choir and participated at the concert. What she says is true.
The choir Christmas concert, called the Holiday Extravaganza, is very different from their other concerts. Students do not have to wear formal attire, creating a more relaxed atmosphere, while it is a variety show with solos, ensembles, and student-work; all to attract more students and families to the fundraiser.
Last Tuesday reflected this.
Some choirs performed beautiful Christmas songs as a whole. Others sang solos, some students performed parodies while others performed their own work. A few songs even included an ukulele or guitar— student-played, of course.
There were the classics, like “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree,” “Silent Night,” and “Carol of the Bells.” Then there was some humorous songs: “Don’t Be A Jerk, It’s Christmas” from Spongebob SquarePants and “Present Face,” written by Garfunkel and Oates.
There was also student written and performed songs.
Karli Thompson and Braeden Wilson performed their “Papa Claus,” a humorous song about the lonely son of Santa Claus. Then Annie Carpenter and Nathan George performed their own “Pine Cones and Holly Berries Medley.” Grace Rodriguez-Cole performed a parody of All I Want for Christmas is You, “All I Want for Christmas is Food.” These are only just three of the solos from that night.
To show their spirit, each choir dressed with a theme. Concert Choir dressed in white and red to mimic candy canes while Chorale wore Christmas pajamas. Advanced Women’s wore ugly sweaters and Twilight wore pink and silver sequin Santa Claus hats. There was even an honorary Santa.
But what’s the fuss? Well, this class doesn’t come cheap.
Consider everything a choir needs: fees to participate in competition, transportation to these competitions, formal attire, and microphones that come at their cheapest at $500. Plus, students in Twilight are planning to compete in New York this year.
“The school gives us about $3,000,” Ms. Stacks says. She teaches all choir classes at Legacy and has been doing so for 18 years. “But, you know, if you were mentally adding that up in your head any of what I just told you, we do four competitions a year. So four competitions a year at $750. Oh, well, that money is gone right there. And then buses for $1400 every time. Huh, where does that come from? Oh, and music? What? Yeah, that’s why we need a lot more.”
All students are also required to wear formal attire in their competitions and concerts. The district only allows the choir budget to charge each student $50 for their attire, so the choir pays the rest. Dresses and tuxedos range from $65 to $105.
On the other hand, the choir is also being money smart. At the end of the year, most girls in the lower choirs donate their dresses back to the choir. Next year, these dresses are offered at $25 for students who have less money to spend. The $25 goes back to the choir budget.
The students put an amazing amount of work into their concerts.
“We start preparing for concerts early on and learning our songs,” student Bridget Glaspey adds. “When we’re ready, we get rid of the music and memorize it. Then we put the program together and, the days before, rehearse in the auditorium.”
Students from Twilight were key in planning this concert. They helped plan and manned the booth outside of the Auditorium for their upcoming New York trip. The Holiday Extravaganza is one way that they are raising money for them to be able to go.
However, this concert wasn’t without challenges.
During the concert, the microphones began to fade in and out. It was most likely due to phones— their cell service uses the same frequency, affecting the microphones’ ability to work. Phones should be completely turned off when the choir is performing. But that isn’t always the situation.
“People who aren’t going to turn their phones off no matter what you said to them, they still aren’t going to turn their phones off,” Ms. Stacks says. It’s not a new problem.
Another challenge that popped up was half of the 11-boy Men’s Choir came down with the flu. Only 6 were present at the actual concert. More attended practice than the actual concert.
Because of this, some songs had an imbalance of boy voices vs. girl voices. But that still doesn’t change the fact that this year’s Holiday Extravaganza was a truly amazing concert.
That’s the audience’s opinion, at the very least.
Their fundraiser goal was $1,500. Instead, the choir raised $1,600.
