The winter performance calendar for the international division is in full swing.
Middle School/High School
The holiday season got off to a great start with a winter concert by the high school orchestra and chorus. Highlights from the program included the pieces “Wood Splitter Fanfare” and “Fire in the Forge” by the orchestra, which offered a nice contrast to a set of Christmas songs offered by the chorus.
The Christmas choral set opened with “We Need a Little Christmas”, a classic show tune by legendary Broadway composer Jerry Herman. The ensemble then took us back to the 15th century with the “Boar’s Head Carol”, a piece that has become a standard for high school and university choirs across the world. The chorus closed their set with a mid-20th century favorite, “White Christmas”, by Irving Berlin. Originally published in 1942, an updated doo-wop version of the tune was featured in the film “Home Alone” and perennially introduces the standard to a new generation year after year. Amy Ye offered a particularly memorable moment with her featured solo in this piece.
On December 17, the MS and HS division hosted a talent show of epic proportions in the theater. Students from grades 6-12 offered a rich and varied array of performances. The rock band opened the performance with a well-curated set of songs that highlighted the vocal and instrumental talents of the group. Their performance of “Hey Jude”, by the Beatles, captured the essence of a quintessential live rock anthem. Other highlights of the program included Barbie Fei’s live improv painting, a compelling piano duet of the classic tango “Por una cabeza” by siblings Adam and Elisa Sandrieser, and a light-hearted set of comedic vignettes by the improvisational theatre group. An effective and heartfelt performance of “i love you” by Billie Eilish was offered in the form of a piano duet by sixth graders Aya Wang and Naima Qin.
This was the first year our division had hosted such a large showcase of talent in the theater. The event generated so much interest that all of talent could not be contained in a single afternoon. A follow up to our December talent show will be held again in the theater shortly before the Chinese New Year break.
What would the Christmas season be without a caroling event? A group of middle schoolers and teachers offered an onslaught of holiday cheer to all entering E building on the early morning of December 18th. The carolers sang classics like “The 12 Days of Christmas”, “Silver and Gold”, “Good King Wenceslas”, and “Deck the Halls”. A holly, jolly time was had by all.
The middle and high school dance ensembles led by Ms. Wang will present a performance in the theater on January 11. These groups will perform pieces that seamlessly blend influences of Chinese traditional dance with elements of modern jazz.
The middle school orchestras and choruses have been hard at work preparing for their winter concert on January 18th. The orchestras will present a selection of pieces with heroic and adventurous themes including “Dragon Slayer”, “Viking”, and “Spartacus”. The middle school choral groups will present an eclectic selection of songs from around the world. The seventh grade chorus will be singing a piece by noted South African musician Joseph Shabalala (of Ladysmith Black Mambazo fame), as well as an arrangement of a canon by the 16th century English composer Thomas Tallis. The 8th grade bring to the stage a set of classic popular songs from the 1960s: “Penny Lane”, by the Beatles, and “Workin’ in a Coal Mine”, by R&B singer Lee Dorsey.
The performances by these ensembles and soloists all contributed to a season of festivity and cheer across campus. We look forward to seeing the great progress these diversely talented young people will make in the new year!
Primary School
SCLS PSID held its 2020 Christmas concert on December 18th. The classes and students once again rehearsed and performed an authentic holiday concert. The homeroom teachers selected classic Christmas songs for the performance.
Students worked with their homeroom teachers, as well as our music teacher, Mr. Reffett, and our dance teacher, Mr. Chu. Homeroom teachers worked with Mr. Ecklesdafer to select and prepare the special background images for each song. Everyone worked together in the spirit of Christmas to create something special for the students to experience and remember.
A few classes even tried something new this year – they rehearsed and performed their song with instruments live on stage. This presented more challenges for those classes, but they were willing to put in the extra effort and practice to make it happen.
It was wonderful to see the students perform their songs on stage. As you know, due to COVID restrictions, we were not able to have parents watch the performance live. However, we did film the show so that you would still be able to watch everyone performing and see all the hard work and practice that went into the show.
We hope you enjoyed our Christmas Show, and we wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.
