Photo Credit: Tony and Debbie (flickr username). Photo License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. No edits made.[/caption]Thursday, March 27, the Orange High School Choral Department presented an A Capella concert. Tickets to the concert cost $5 and it took place at 7:00 pm.. It was directed by Orange’s chorus instructor/teacher Jane Williams.
The concert included all three classes of chorus; Beginning, Intermediate, and Madrigals going in order from advancement. The students all wore black formal attire and did their pieces with no instruments or backing music. Chase Austin welcomed the crowd and presented the first performance of the night.
The Beginning Concert Choir began first singing three pieces, Old Dan Tucker, Red, Red Rose, Shut de Do. All went without a hitch and were a nice way to start off the concert.
After the three Beginning arrangements the Intermediate Concert Choir stepped onto stage and sang four different songs. These were; Non Nobis Domine, Ah! How Pleasant, and a crowd favorite that provided some humor for the concert, The Animals Improvise Counterpoint (a “Nonsense” song), as well as a follow up song, Liza.
After Intermediate came the Madrigal Singers who sang Flower of Beauty and Elijah Rock. After them came a Pop Mashup sang by multiple madrigal girls, Kimberly Barbosa, Nicola Cassada, Katie Clark, Ashley Holloway, Jessica Scott, Sarah Tatum, MacKenzie Turner, and Amanda Rowe.
After the female ensemble another small group of Intermediate students came forward to sing, Just The Way You Are. This group included Ally Farthing, Tyshiona Haines-Mitchell, Kaleb Hix, Julian Knight, and Jalesa Parker. Somebody I Used To Know was sang right after by another small group of Madrigal females.
Three young ladies; Erin Burgner, Hannah Cozart, and Andie McKinnon then sang The Chain. Followed up by Nicole Cassada, Katie Clark, Caleb Tolin, and Nicholas Vassello singing Because of You.
After the smaller mashups were applauded for, Matt Lewis, Montee Mitchell, Davis Scott, Jordan Toney, and Andrew Williamson performed Let’s Groove which was another hit with the audience. After the Madrigal boys sang their groove, Chase Austin Trevor Bates, Aidan Farrel, Travis Holt, Marquise Morrow, Sankwon Reams, and Dalton Shary sang You Send Me ending the concert on a perfect note.
Great job to the Panther singers and congratulations to the 12 students who were chose to perform at the North Carolina All-State Choral Festival in February and special congrats to Travis Holt for being chosen to sing one of two solos in a Mixed Ensemble chosen by Dr. Rodney Wynkoop of Duke. Stay on the watch for the All County Choral Festival at Orange April 12.
The chorus concert that had been scheduled for March 6 was cancelled due to inclement weather including sleet and black ice on the roads. The concert is now scheduled to take place on March 27. The preview for the concert seems to be a promising lineup of songs and performances from all three levels of chorus classes.
The concert began with the concert choir singing “Jubilate Deo,” an Irish folk song, “Cliffs of Doneen,” a spiritual song, “Wade In The Water,” and “Peter Piper.” “Peter Piper” featured a colorful light show that gave the crowd a good laugh. The women from that class then sang “Candle on the Water” from Pete’s Dragon. Each song went without a hitch, and were all fun treats for the whole audience.
Next up came the vocal ensemble singing the spiritual song “My Lord, What A Morning.” The song was filled with great emotion and praise. Next they sang “Ave Maria,” a song composed by Giulio Caccini. Lastly came “Dreams of Thee” from a poem called “Lines to an Indian Air.” The crowd gave a huge round of applause before the ensemble exited.
Madrigal singers entered dressed in the traditional black gowns for women, and the all-black suits for men. They began with a Cuban folk song, “Son de Camaguey,” then went on to sing “Flower of Beauty,” which was definitely a crowd favorite. Before exiting they all sang “Elijah Rock,” putting emphasis on the spiritual essence of the song. The madrigal men left, leaving the women to perform “Beauty and the Beast.” Savannah Kimbrough flawlessly executed the solo, getting a huge round of applause.
The group of men from the concert choir then came up to sing “Calendar Girl,” which was meant to woo all the ladies in the crowd. They had a short dance to go with it, each member performing a solo. The crowd responded greatly, and the choir exited, taking their seats.
Next up was “Runaround Sue” performed by the vocal ensemble men, and a solo by Andrew Carey. It was done without error, and was a great performance. The song quickly ended before the women came up to perform “Grumble Too Much,” a Caribbean folk song.
All the females were dressed up in aprons and bandannas, wearing a mean face as they came out. The song was a fun experience, and the crowd got into it, hooting and hollering with the girls. The song was popular among the younger audience too, who, after the show, were still loving the act.
Madrigal men then followed with “Little Darlin.’” The song was a hit with many females in the audience, and was a great transition song for the next ensemble that sang “Everybody Talks” by the group, Neon Trees. The ensemble includes singers Erin Burgner, Hannah Cozart, Khadijah Johnson, Sankwon Reams, Andrew Willamson, and the lead Caleb Tolin. The ensemble received a huge applause, many getting out of their seats.
Another ensemble followed with Chase Austin, Aly Hardigan, Travis Holt, Marquise Morrow, Sankwon Reams, Jessica Scott, and Andrew Williamson. They performed “Wonderwall” by Oasis with Holt taking lead. The song was well received by the crowd.
Lastly, the whole choral program came together to sing “We’re The Choir,” a warm-up song used featuring a selected part for the different vocal ranges alto, soprano, tenor, and bass. The song is quirky and showcases each section’s strengths. That concluded the concert and all the singers took a bow before everyone headed out to the lobby to discuss the show. Great job to Orange High’s chorus!
The jazz band performed holiday hits such as "Dashing through the Snow," "It's the Holiday Season," "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," and "Jingle Bell Boogie." Concert band performed "A Christmas Auld Lang Syne," "Hannukah," "Festival of Lights," "Fanfare on an Old French Carol," "Feliz Navidad," and a narrated version of "T'was the Night Before Christmas," which was a hit with the audience.
The End of the World Benefit Concert took place December 20 at 6:30 pm in the OHS auditorium to raise money for Carolina for Kibera. The concert was hosted by the Peace Club, led by Marc Sprintz. The concert featured performances by many including but not limited to the Apollo Panthers, The Blue Suits, and a duet performance by seniors Terrance Morrow and Chelsea Aniol.
The concert started when Peace Club President Karla Lozano and Vice-President Indy Reid-Shaw walked up on stage and gave a brief intro to Peace Club's cause, Carolina for Kibera.
The first performer was Anastasia Zitko. She sang two songs, the first being “Jar of Hearts,” originally performed by Christina Perry. The second song was “Fix You” by Coldplay. The crowd loved it, and it was a great start to a great evening.
The singing performance was followed by poetry performed by Apollo Panthers, which consisted of several people performing poetry. They came up individually, and performed several poems/raps in between other performances.
One band who really fired up the auditorium was the Blue Suits. They performed four songs with high intensity and sound.
Terrance Morrow and Chelsea Aniol performed “Next To You,” originally sung by Chris Brown and Justin Bieber, as a lovely duet.
“It was a really great concert with great performances,” junior Christian Walker said when it was over.
The Beginning Choir started off the festivities with an upbeat rendition of “Bidi Bom.” It was followed by “Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer,” in which props were used. Everyone donned reindeer antlers or Santa hats. There were very cute hijinks by Matt Lewis and Montee Mitchell, who were the soloists.The Concert Choir took the stage next, looking very professional in black and white. “Light the Candles of Freedom” is a very heartwarming song that was followed by a timeless favorite, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!”
Madrigal singers continued the concert. “Ule Lume Lagedala” is a tongue-twisting Estonian song that invites the listeners to join the singers on a sleigh ride.
“Ose Shalom” is a harmonic and reverent prayer for peace in Hebrew. “What Child is This?” was acapella and haunting.
“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” was stunning, the colorful effects by Nathan Tilley and Jay Huskins were great. Set up like a dramatic play or ballet, the boys puppeted the women as they harmonized.
“Born, Born in Bethlehem,” sung by the men of the Concert Choir with soloist Austin Prebula, reminded me of the smooth tone of Elvis.“Jingle Bell Rock” was a swinging and rocking song sung by the Beginning Men.
“Baby It’s Cold Outside” was an interesting tale sung and acted by Grace Huskins and Caleb Tolin that took a sudden twist. It began the regular way where the man entreats the woman to stay but the tables became flipped when she began to harass him.
“Jing-a-Ling, Jing-a-Ling” was a crowd favorite. Benjamin Peckman, Huskins, and Scott were naughty and were dragged to the stage tobe turned nice. Tinsel and bows and coal were draped over the men while the bouncy and amusing Madrigal women sang to them.Terrance Morrow serenaded the audience with “This Christmas” using a sky high falsetto, accompanied by Thane Morrow on piano and Marquiese Morrow on the drums.
“Twelve (...or so...?) Days of Christmas” was hilarious. The Madrigal men confused themselves and the audience when they combined a couple of Christmas and Hanukkah classics.
All groups joined together to sing the last four songs, celebrating the closeness the holidays bring. “Carol of the Bells” was an a capella masterpiece, “Jazzy Old Saint Nick” had a cute twist on an old favorite, and “Let There Be Peace on Earth” contained a beautiful message sung by soloist Anjalisa Cates. Everyone was invited to sing along at the end of “Christmas Wish,” a beautiful end to a beautiful concert.