For some of the performers, it was their first time performing on stage at Mission High School in the Little Theater for the Choir’s Winter Program event. Some of the singers had their eyes closed when they started singing to concentrate and to shut everyone out. While Ms. Angelique was playing the piano and instructing, the students displayed their singing abilities and opened the program with the song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson and James Rosamund Johnson. The beginning of the song was quiet and calm, and in the end the voices got louder until it all came together as one.
Ms. Angelique and her 3rd period choir class– consisting of Victor Mayo McMilan, Melanie Hernandez, and Isabella Hernandez, Vicki Nino Sanchez, Emilio Valderrama, and Daylin Huchin Pool– fascinated many students on December 3, 2024, with many winter themed songs.
The Mission High Choir concert was an unexpected combination of harmonious melodies and festive music with a sprinkle of quartet acapella. I enjoyed the diverse range of music, from songs from Tim Burton classics like the Nightmare Before Christmas and Beetlejuice: The Musical to a piece from the video game Undertale, there was something exciting in each song.
As well as signing, Victor Mayo McMilan, a sophomore at Mission High School, and Melanie Hernandez, a member of the musical theater club, impressed the audience with their fascinating acting and singing when doing “Town Meeting” and “Sally’s Song” from the famous movie Nightmare Before Christmas.
Something I found intriguing was the incorporation of songs in different languages, such as “Dos Oruguitas” by Lin-Manuel Miranda from the Disney movie Encanto or the song “Pong Pong Piyangaw” in Tagalog.
The choir’s students had a good time singing in the performance.
Isabella Hernandez, a freshman, says, “what I like most about the choir is that I get to be myself.”
The audience also had a festive time, as the choir director, Ms. Angelique, had some cookies and hot chocolate to thank the students and teachers who came out for their Winter Program.
In the end, this winter program gave a sense of spirit to the school and a welcoming to winter time. I am excited to see what the choir will do for the upcoming Spring Program, the choir’s main performance around the end of the school year.
