The Westwood Choir’s Winter Concert brought about Christmas spirit at the Hope Presybterian Church on Dec. 10. The Westwood Choir department contains different groups within the organization, including Concert Women, Chamber, Varsity Woman and Concert Men to name a few. 

“The different groups this year, in my opinion, are doing so great,” Neal Gandhi ‘20 said. “Concert Men and Women have grown so much since the beginning of the year and I couldn’t be more excited to see what they’ll hold in the future.”

The Winter Concert contains many classic and well-known Christman tunes and songs that are enjoyed by many. Many of the choir members also wore bright, festive Christmas sweaters to display holiday spirit.

“Our winter concert is super fun; we do a lot of holiday songs. My favorite part is especially at the end when we sing the ‘Lord Bless You’ song and we invite choir alumni up to the stage to sing with us. It’s so nice to see people who graduated and sing with them,” Anouka Saha ‘21 said.

This year’s Winter Concert introduced the new choir club, Audacity. Comprised of mainly choir members with a few additional non-choir members, Audacity contains talented individuals from wide-ranging backgrounds. They performed White Winter Hymnal, a classic Christmas tune. The song consists of three vocal parts including soprano, alto and tenor. Audacity members also performed the song with hand and foot movements, including snapping of fingers, stomps and claps. 

“Our performance was pretty good and really fun; I had a good time being a part of an organization that I really believe in and helped start,” Connor Galley ‘20 said.

The choir’s success largely depends on the directors, Mr. Andre Clark and Ms. Robin Harwell. The two directors directed the entire concert, with each director directing different groups within the choir organization.

“Ms. Harwell is new to the choir program but she has made such an impact on us. She mostly conducts the women’s choirs and we have so much fun watching her! Mr. Clark has been here for 3 years and he is awesome as well. I really can’t imagine the choir program without him. He conducts most of the mixed choirs and men’s choirs. He is an awesome person and conductor,” Laney McFadden ‘20 said.

This concert marked the last concert of 2019, signaling the last Winter Choir Concert for all seniors. One song performed by a mainly-senior choral group was Jamaican Noel, featuring solos from only seniors. 

“Our concert went pretty well, and we had a lot of fun. No concert is perfect, but it went as well as we expected it to,” Nicole Boisseau ‘20 said, a notable senior soloist. “It really meant a lot to be able to sing some of the traditional songs that I’ve been waiting to sing since I first joined choir, and to get to sing them with the people I love who have been with me for so many years.”