Gallery • 11 Photos

Jewelia Rodriguez

The men's choir sings during the holiday performance

Every year in December, all of the bands come together in one place. On Dec. 8, each of the four: Jazz Ensemble, Concert and Symphonic Bands and for their debut, the United Sound Band, performed a winter band concert. Through eleven songs and the separate performances of the HHS choirs, the bands played a wide range of music from “Gesu Bambino” to the classic holiday songs. Junior Joseph Lockey was one of the many musicians and has been a part of the band family since his sixth grade year.

“I’m just looking forward to having a fun time [and] playing music,” Lockey said.

Lockey, a French Horn player, has been preparing with his fellow band members for the past month.

“I’m in Concert Band this year,” Lockey said. “We’ve been practicing for a while… I’m just excited to play.”

The concert started off with the performance of two songs by the Jazz Ensemble, followed by a break in the bands with the singing of five different choirs. Following a brief intermission in the show during the transition of the two musical performances, the bands were allowed to tune their instruments in preparation for the final three bands. To start off the three was the Concert Band, which included Lockey, with their holiday performances of “Dashing Through the Snow” and “Gesu Bambino,” an Italian Christmas carol composed by Pietro Yon in 1917.

United Sound played next with their debut, “Dream of Fireflies”. United Sound is a program that just came to Harrisonburg High School, which brought in six new special education musicians mentored by 18 band members. The 24 members were backed up by much more of the band, all coming together in front of an audience for the first time, ending in a standing ovation.

To finish off the night, the Symphonic Band, the biggest of the four, sounded off with five songs including one of the world’s most famous Christmas carols, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

United Sound was not the only one to get a standing ovation, as everyone in the packed auditorium ended up on their feet by the end of the final song, “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson.