On December 18, Mt. Eden High School’s Visual and Performing Arts hosted its highly anticipated Annual Winter Concert, showcasing the talent of the school’s band, orchestra, and choir ensembles.
The event featured a diverse range of performances, from classical to modern hits, as well as catering from China Cook for all to enjoy. The concert featured performances like the String Combo’s cover of Baile de Lila by Chris Thomas, Concert Choir’s rendition of holiday classic Carol of the Bells by M. Leontovich and Peter Wilhousky, and Treasure by Bruno Mars from Show Choir.
“I really enjoyed that it’s all the different groups performing and when the choir sang Carol of the Bells,” said Mt. Eden Math teacher Kelly Serrano.
Accompanying Serrano was another Mt. Eden Math teacher, Jeff Huang.
“It’s nice to see the performance together with all the different groups,” said Huang. “It’s refreshing to see.”
After intermission, the String Orchestra arrived on stage, delivering a performance of March of the Toys by Victor Herbert and Fum Fum Fum by J. Cameron Law.
Junior Alex Arias, Viola Section leader in String Orchestra, feels as though all the performances were successful.
“I feel like with the months of preparation that we had, leading up to today’s event it really built up something great,” said Arias.
“We all got to play, which was pretty fun,” added senior Tokiyo Chin, 2nd Violin in Orchestra, “I just think we did pretty good overall.”
To end the concert, Wind Ensemble performed The Marches of John Williams by Johnnie Vinson, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring by Victor Lopez, and The Lion King by John Higgins.
“Fun fact about band: you get to learn a lot of stuff and get excited about things like concerts and wearing tuxedos,” said freshman Cristian Carranza, part of Mt. Eden’s Clarinet Woodwind section, “It’s fun being in band; you learn more and get work knowledge.”
One of Mt. Eden’s Vice Principals, William Wright, also attended the concert, mesmerized by the amount of faces and engagement there was throughout the night.
“Something that caught my eye was how sharp everyone looks tonight, I think everyone is dapper and on point,” said Wright. “I see a lot of smiles. This is a bigger crowd than I am used to seeing, it’s been a pretty packed night tonight.”
At one point of the evening, all the seniors were individually introduced on the stage, getting a round of applause as a proper send-off for performing at their last Mt. Eden Winter Concert.
“The shout out to the seniors was dope,” said Wright, “having all the seniors in one space was amazing.”
