By Daisy Moriarty’25
On December 12, at 7 pm, The Frederick Gunn School’s music program presented its 2023 winter concert. The Jazz Band started off the show with “Big Noise at The North Pole,” the concert’s namesake. Next, the Vocal Ensemble performed “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which was followed by the String Ensemble’s performance of “This is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Next, each ensemble performed a Hanukkah song. The Jazz band performed “Swingin’ Around the Menorah,” and the Vocal Ensemble performed “Song of Galilee.” The final Hanukkah song was the Israeli National Anthem, titled “Hatikvah ‘The Hope.”’
After this, the Jazz Band wowed the audience with their “Hot Chocolate” performances from The Polar Express and “Rock the Halls.” The String Ensemble performed “I’ll be Home for Christmas” and “Music from Frozen,” which many people in the audience hummed along to. Then, the Vocal Ensemble sang “Welcome Christmas” and “Where Are You Christmas”, which are both hits from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Next was “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” a collaboration between the Jazz Band, String Ensemble, and soloist Ryan Ryu. The concert ended with the annual sing-along of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” in which the audience joined in enthusiastically.
All three ensembles had been preparing for this performance during the fall trimester and evening rehearsals throughout Winterim. There were many soloists in the concert, eight of whom were in the Vocal Ensemble. In order to determine solos in the Vocal Ensemble, Mr. Castonguay gives students a date for auditions. Auditions take place during class, and every student can audition for as many solos as they would like. Then, there are often callbacks. After callbacks, Mr. Castonguay decides who he thinks best fits the solo. Juliet Denman was the only soloist from the String Ensemble who revealed that she was given her solo because “the first violin has a solo written in the music.” The Jazz Band had five soloists, including Oliver Levick, who revealed, “The majority of people who are interested in taking a solo will simply take one during rehearsals and judge whether they feel comfortable enough to attempt it during the actual concert.”
This is only the first of the many performances that the Frederick Gunn music program will have during the 2023/2024 school year, and they have already started to prepare for their Chamber Concert, which will take place on April 24, and their Spring Concerts, which will take place on May 14 and 15.
