DOYLESTOWN – On Wednesday, December 13th, the Central Bucks High School East Concert, Baritone, Treble, and Chamber Choirs held their annual winter concert in the school auditorium. Conducted by Mr. Christopher Villante, the director of choral activities at East for over ten years, the concert’s repertoire consisted of eighteen songs ranging from historical composers such as Debussy and Handel to Tamanend’s choral director, Mr. Ian Sanchez. The East choir also welcomed about forty freshmen from Holicong and Tohickon Middle Schools to join them in singing one of the pieces, as is tradition during the winter concert.
The Concert Choir opened and closed the concert with four pieces respectively, notably ending with “Christmas Time is Here” – the piece from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” albeit by a different arranger. After that came the Treble Choir, Chamber Choir, and Baritone Choir (in that order), singing three songs each.
This concert was the culmination of three months of work starting at the beginning of September and the first showcase of the choir for the 2023-2024 school year. There has been no shortage of preparation – Concert Choir and Chamber Choir members rehearse anywhere from two and a half to five and a half hours during and after school per week, whereas Treble and Baritone Choir members rehearse an additional hour on top of that after school on Mondays (not to mention the preparation that must be done independently).
Yet there is still much to be done. In February the Chamber Choir will travel to Providence, Rhode Island to perform at the American Choral Directors’ Assocation (ACDA) Regional Conference, where several prominent composers and choral ensembles will be attending. Shortly thereafter, the choir will be off to Montreal in April, followed by the spring concert just a few weeks later in May. Finally, the choir will finish off their year by performing at East’s very own graduation ceremony.
Of course, now is the time for celebration of a job well done. After the concert, friends, family, alumni, and the vocalists themselves were invited to a brief reception in the atrium, and those who had choir class the next day could look forward to eating leftover treats and watching a movie as a reward for their effort.
“I feel like we performed pretty well over all,” says junior Logan Ford. “I think we’re pretty prepared for the future and I’m definitely looking forward to [what we have planned], to bring it out in future concerts.”
