When entering the Hartness Performing Arts Center, I didn’t expect much out of the Winter Choral Concert. I expected to see a fairly typical display of the Middle and Upper School Choir, not unlike what we see in Chapel every Wednesday. For the first few minutes, that was exactly what I got. However, it didn’t take too long for the concert to turn from harmlessly standard to legitimately interesting. 

The first half of the concert was dedicated to the Middle School Choir, the Bluebelles, and the Advanced Treble Choir. These pieces were undoubtedly filled with strong performances all around and were a very charming display of efforts. The Bluebelles were probably the best part of this first half, offering extremely creative and pleasant-sounding arrangements of classic Christmas songs. However, it was once the main Upper School Choir walked on stage that the performance went from good to something truly special.

As soon as the Advanced Treble Choir stopped singing, the lighting on the stage of the PAC was completely cut off. And slowly, from the seats in the audience, the Upper School Choir flooded out onto the stage and immediately hooked everybody’s attention. It was no longer simply a choral performance, and the interesting visuals made something that’s generic in concept fresh and intriguing. The rest of the performance from this point forward was equally gripping. From Ella Stevens getting a dance spotlight during Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy to the theatre being entirely lit by candles during one song, all aspects of the second half of the show made the entire show much more interesting than it would have been otherwise.

Overall, the Middle and Upper School Choir brought their all to this concert. When their voices were combined with fascinating visuals, an already great show transformed into a true spectacle.