By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Students, parents, and teachers at Grant Bowler Elementary School were treated to a festivebeginning to the holiday break on Wednesday, Dec. 20. The school’s Honor Choir and the students of the first grade performed a special holiday program for other students and their parents. The concert was under the direction of Bowler music teacher, Trish Andersen.
The Honor Choir is composed of students that love music and singing enough to come to school early every Wednesday morning to practice. They spend time learning singing techniques, practicing and learning new songs that they perform throughout the year at venues around the valley.
Honor choir members took the stage first dressed in festive red and green holiday best. They opened the concert by singing holiday favorite, “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow.” Then they slowed down the tempo as they moved into their second piece, “On the Road to Bethlehem.”
Just the fifth-graders were featured next in a cute song called, “Mister Santa” sung to the tune of ‘50’s favorite “Mr. Sandman.” They did a great job and clearly enjoyed their performance, as did those who were watching.
The choir’s next song featured eight special soloists, all of whom had great voices and great courage as they each stood in front of the microphone and sang part of the song, “Better Bundle Up.” The featured soloists were Faith Kelly, Alyssa Weeks, Katarina Wilson, Kaylie Freeman, Miyah Macias, Kevin Jones, Kyra Murphy, and Eustolia Miranda. The choir finished up its portion of the concert with an upbeat, catchy performance of “Nice, Not Naughty.”
After the Honor Choir left the stage, they were replaced by the entire first grade class. The girls were dressed in their holiday finery again, while most boys chose to go with a more super-hero related theme like Batman or Superman. The enthusiasm of all, however, was infectious.
The first-graders began with “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” followed by “When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter.”
A highlight of the program was the next song, which was a rendition of “All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth,” sung by many kids who were actually missing those elusive two front teeth. This fact was underscored by a slideshow playing in the background during the song featuring each first-grader showing off his/her own personal gap-toothed smile to advantage.
This song was followed by “I Want to Be an Elf,” which had the kids demonstrating both their singing and their dancing moves. Next they got to show off their instrumental skills as they accompanied themselves to “Jingle Bell Parade” with each student shaking their own set of jingle bells.
The kids closed out the concert with an enthusiastic rendition of “Hot Chocolate” from the Polar Express, and had the audience join in with them for a final chorus of “Jingle Bells.”
Kids and parents alike enjoyed the chance to enjoy some holiday music together. Honor Choir member Alyssa Weeks said she loved Honor Choir and performing “because I can express who I really am.”
Choir member Faith Kelly, 11, agreed, saying, “I love singing because I feel like I don’t talk well in front of people, but in the choir I can express what I want to say with a song.”
Miyah Macias, 10, added, “I have a lot of stage fright and being in the choir and singing in front of people with my friends helps me get over it. It also helps that it is really fun.”
Parents also enjoyed watching their kids perform. Melanie Evans, parent of a first grade performer, said, “It was really a great concert and I’m glad I came. The Honor Choir was very good and very entertaining. I like how they were able to divide into parts in their songs.”
Parent Esther Jones, agreed, saying, “It was an excellent concert. We’ve been to a lot of performances over the years and it’s really nice to come to the choir performances. The kids always know the words and they know the actions. It’s very refreshing and makes it nice to watch.”
Anderson was also pleased with how things turned out. “I was so pleased with the concert and how the kids sang,” she said. “They really shined and did a great job.”
Anderson thanked the administration and the parents for all their support, saying that it really takes dedication on the part of both the parent and the student to get to all the practices and performances.
