WHHS band lets Christmas shine through music
On Thursday, Dec. 19, the West Holmes High School band put on a Christmas show dedicated to sharing the Christmas spirit with a nice crowd in Excalibur Theatre, where a quintet of groups presented an evening of Christmas music.
The evening is one way the hardworking students get to share their expertise with the community.
“It’s one more opportunity for everyone to come together right before the holidays and make Christmas music, and this group really loves emphasizing Christmas music,” West Holmes band instructor Steve Butcher said.
The evening opened with a performance from the Tradition of Excellence Band that includes all the students playing new instruments.
The second group to take the stage was the concert band, which consists of freshmen and sophomores, with the jazz band livening up the atmosphere next, and finally, the symphonic band consisting of juniors and seniors took the stage to send attendees off with a riveting selection of songs.
“One of the enjoyable things about this is that it gives all of our music talent a chance to participate in the evening’s performance,” Butcher said. “Our kids work very hard at this, and this is a fun reward for them to showcase that work.”
Butcher said because of the Knights football team’s extended playoff run this fall, it cut into the time the music group could work on practicing all its Christmas offerings together.
However, the students overcame that short practice time, jelled and put together an inspirational evening of concert music that put everyone in the Christmas mood.
“I give all the credit to the kids,” Butcher said. “It’s their dedication to get excited about the music they are playing.”
One special number came courtesy of four saxophone players and a drummer who presented the song “Mary Did You Know.” The quartet of saxophone musicians included Wyatt Carter, Andi Schuck, Rebecca Bertram and Emily Yoder, along with drummer Luke Snyder.
In order to prepare for the evening’s performance, the quartet went throughout the school during that day caroling in their saxophone style and then playing out by the front door as students were leaving at day’s end.
“They took it upon themselves to learn four additional songs just in this past week to perform at school for the students. I think they went to 10 different classrooms just to practice, but also because they’ve worked hard and deserve to present as many performances as possible,” Butcher said.
The evening was a perfect way to wind down the school session prior to Christmas break and send people into the Christmas season with happy hearts and holiday musical cheer.