An Ensemble Piece: Holiday Concert, Pottstown Style

An annual holiday tradition unfolded in the Pottstown High School Auditorium Tuesday night when the district's instrumentalists took to the stage to strut their stuff.

This is a post of mostly videos, and videos whose visual perfection is extremely limited.

But that's not why we go to children's concerts is it? We go to listen, so concentrate on how the kids sound.

They sound great by the way.

Being of limited arm strength, I did not attempt to record each performance.

In fact, this year, I focused on the small ensembles.

Typically, these students have to come in extra early in the morning to practice and I thought we might reward them this year for the extra work.

The concert kicked off with an unusual treat, the Pottstown High School Jazz Band, which put together a number with very little opportunity to practice given the recent conclusion of the marching band season.

They performed a medley number  titled "A Big Band Christmas II"



I follow with the Middle School Trumpet Trio, Nick Wilson, Will Minick and Mitchell Aquino, who played a very jazzy version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."




Unfortunately, technical problems kept me from recording the middle school clarinet ensemble, which includes my neighbor Reilly Owens. All apologies to the Owens family.

However, I overcame those difficulties to get a portion of the Middle School Flute Ensemble and a portion of their performance of "I Have a Little Dreydl," a Hannukah song.




This was in turn followed by another middle school performance, the Middle School Brass Ensemble, which played two numbers: "Silent Night" and "Angels We Have Heard on High."




Following an intermission in which raffle prizes were given out, we returned with the High School Clarinet Ensemble, which played "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."



They were followed by the High School Flute Ensemble, which played the Dance of the Reed Pipes from "The Nutcracker." (You'll recognize it wen you hear it.)



Finally, I recorded some of the Holiday Sing-A-Along, which is how we end holiday concerts here in Pottstown.



I hope you enjoyed the performances if not the camera work. And my apologies to the larger ensembles, but hey, a guy needs a rest.