The winter air in Wayland will be filled with the music of Wayland High School’s a cappella, band, orchestra and choral groups in the upcoming weeks.
The annual College A Cappella will be on December 3 in the Wayland Middle School Theatre. The concert will feature WHS’ three a cappella groups as well as three college groups, The Baker’s Dozen (Yale), The Chorallaries (MIT) and the Chattertocks (Brown). Tickets are on sale for $15.
On December 7, the Honors Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, combined bands and special chamber music will perform at the Wayland High School Band Concert. The concert is free; however, donations will be accepted for the Jim Griffin Family Trust.
December 7 also marks the 70th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. To commemorate this, the bands will play “God Bless America” for any war veterans in attendance, including Pearl Harbor veteran Jerry Halterman.
“This is our last concert in the Little Theater; it’s going to be a special one,” said Oneschuk.
The school-wide chorus concert will take place Thursday, December 8, in the Little Theater. The two school choir groups, Honors Symphonia and Concert Choir will perform. This year, the freshmen chorus course and the regular chorus course combined, resulting in a larger group.
“It’s a much bigger group to work with and a much fuller sound,” said sophomore Carley Durant.
The concert will consist of mostly full chorus songs, with a few solos, duets and trios. The two choirs will sing traditional choir songs and a few more contemporary songs.
On December 17, the String Orchestra and Honors Symphonia will be performing their winter concert in the Little Theater. The orchestras will play together, along with band members, for a few songs.
Jesse Hoopes, a bassist in the String Orchestra, is anticipating a different feel than winter concerts in the past.
“For our winter concerts we’ve always done very peaceful, Christmas-themed songs, but this year we’re intensifying everything a lot,” said Hoopes.
There will still be some of the classic Christmas songs, such as “Carol of the Bells,” with other pieces pertaining less to the holidays, including “Russian Sailor’s Dance.”