On the day before Winter Break, students at HHS report to the auditorium for the annual assembly, where choirs sing, bands blast and sound reverberates through the halls. But for many performers, this year’s tradition was something new.

Five groups performed on the last school day of 2014. The HHS Jazz Quartet kicked things off with their rendition of “Joy to the World.” Among the four of them is junior Douglas Ritcher, who plays keyboard and played in a quartet for the assembly last year. However, this is his first performance with the new group.

“We call each others Vicodin, that’s Valerio Aleman, Douglas Ritcher, Kieran McClay and Neal Perrine, so V-K-D-N, Vicodin,” Ritcher said. Although this marked the first time that the all-junior band performed for the school, they were prepared.

“We’ve played together a lot before, we know each others nuances and what not, so it wasn’t too different from what it regularly is, but it’s fun playing in front of other students,” Ritcher said.

The jazz quartet was followed by four percussionists, playing a version of “Deck the Halls.” Sophomore Josh Jordan, the youngest of the four, was a little anxious before the performance.

“It’s fun, but it’s a little nervous. You never know how they’re going to react,” Jordan said. The quartet was formed during the previous school year by directors Mr. Upton and Mr. Snow, in which “the top four people were selected.”

After the percussionists came the Honors Choir, a group full of new and old faces. Junior Allison McGranahan joined the Honors Choir this year after a hiatus of nearly five years.

“[Choir is] a lot of fun because I haven’t been singing since sixth or seventh grade so just getting into Honors Choir automatically was kind of like ‘oh, finally, i can sing again,’” McGranahan said. “I like Mrs. Houff, she’s a good teacher, and the class is a lot of fun.”

Although some of the assembly’s musicians were nervous, McGranahan felt surprisingly calm.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be, but singing in front of the school is a little nerve-wracking. When you sing in front of music people, they know what’s going on. But a lot of times, singing in front of HHS you don’t know any of their reactions and how they’re going to think about what you’re singing,” McGranahan said. But at the end of the day, she was very satisfied with the overall concert.

“I thought it went well and i think that we blended all of the different types of our music at HHS together. The choir set was a lot shorter so it fit well in the concert,” McGranahan said.

The fourth group of the morning was local band This Side Up, composed of seven juniors at HHS. Hollyn Slykhuis, who plays trumpet in the group, was initially nervous because of the crowd’s size.

“We played at the band concert but that was mostly just band parents, so this is the first time we’ve played for this big of a crowd,” Slykhuis said. “The amount of people was a little intimidating and I just wasn’t sure how to receive it.” However, the crowd knew how to receive the performance, which eased her nerves.

“When the whole audience started clapping and was getting into Santa Baby, it was pretty cool,” Slykhuis said.

Leading the symphonic band, the last group of the assembly, was Mrs. Leeper, who taught at Fort Defiance until this year. Initially, she was nervous about a school-wide concert because of her past experiences as a director.

“I was a little apprehensive to play a concert for the whole school. At my previous school, I’ve had to stop concerts in the middle and tell people to be quiet, and concert etiquette has been a disaster. But I was very impressed by the school and all of the performer’s peers and how respectful they were and all of the performances,” Leeper said. Despite the risks of playing to an entire school, Leeper thinks that it is a good experience for the band members to have.

Gallery • 11 Photos

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Symphonic band clarinet members.