The holiday spirit is in the air and both George Mason choirs showcased their talents Tuesday evening at the Winter Choral Concert.

A traditional round called “Shalom” sung by both choirs started the evening as they entered the auditorium and went up on stage. Then followed by the singing of the national anthem in four parts. The Chamber Singers departed and the Concert Choir began their first set of songs: “To A Wild Rose”, “Caged Bird”, and “Canoe Song”. “Caged Bird” is a presentation of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and the music displays the joy, hope, fear and anger displayed in the text. This was a powerful piece to perform.

After this set had been sung, the Chamber Singers reentered the stage and performed two pieces. The first being “Mata Di Anima Sola” (Tree of the Lonely Soul), an a cappella piece with a solo from Miles Jackson.

Junior, Shannon Rodgers commented that “Mata Di Anima Sola” was her favourite piece “because is shows how cohesive we [the Chamber Singers] are as a group.”

The second song was Gwyneth Walker’s “How Can I Keep From Singing” – a song that resonates with all singers as it clearly displays the importance of song in the life of a choir.

As the holidays are drawing closer, the audience could not help but feel the festive cheer. The Chamber Singers performed traditional songs such as “Carol of the Bells”, “Gloucestershire Wassail” (with a solo from Cassandre Rice), and “Deck the Halls”. Within this traditional set a Pentatonix Christmas favourite was added: “That’s Christmas to Me” with solos from Caroline Perez, Clare Doss and Daria Douglas. The Chamber choir performed “Winter’s Walking” and “Text Me Merry Christmas” by Straight No Chaser featuring Kristen Bell. “Text Me Merry Christmas” was performed with solos from Abby McFall, Olivia Pilson, and Emma Rollins.

To wrap up the evening both choirs came together to sing a host of other traditional holiday songs wishing the audience a very happy holiday that we all deserve and soon will be able to enjoy.

We were sad to end the concert but happy to end it on a high note. Both choirs look forward to more on-stage performances in the future and perhaps some spontaneous displays of our joy for singing *hint hint*.

“I am very proud of our choirs,” Director Ms. Jamie Sample said. “Our singers have worked very hard and the winter concert was a wonderful product of that work.  I am looking forward to all of the beautiful music we are going to make in 2018.”

Mrs. Sample also told us (before the concert) that she is so glad that the members of the audience are able to see a portion of what she gets to see every morning.