Varsity Vocals performs during the last weekend of the Holly Dickens Festival
December 11, 2017
For the third year in a row ‘Joy to the World’, ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Jingle Bells’ were sung by Varsity Vocals at the annual Holly Dickens Festival. Varsity Vocals sang at the festival on Dec. 9, performing at the festival has become a new tradition for the choir.
“A few years ago Varsity Vocals was invited to come provide some entertainment through one of my students,” Choir Director Brad Wright said. “We did it and that was three years ago and then they asked us back last year and they asked us back this year, we are basically apart of providing entertainment for all the patrons that come to Holly for the festival.”
The choir performed ten songs during their set which they began preparing since October. The half an hour show included traditional holiday carols however, the choir also performed lesser known carols including ‘Fum Fum Fantasy’ and ‘Wintertime Cheer’ both which were favorites amongst the choir.
“I’ve been studying my music and I was thrilled,” senior Amber Larosa said. “My favorite song was ‘Wintertime Cheer’ “The parts each section gets to sing are sound so cool and I love everything about it.”
The choir performed on the outside stage in downtown Holly, and although it was not snowing when their set started by the end there was a light blizzard.
“The snow made our performance more effective and sincere,” Larosa said. “It’s hard to sing about a winter wonderland without experiencing a winter wonderland.”
Performing at the Dickens Festival was also a way for the choir to help prepare for their upcoming holiday concert.
“It gives us something to start preparing before our actual concert,” Wright said. “It gives the choir a little more performing experience which helps with self confidence when it come to our concert. It’s a live practice for us and we enjoy doing it and all the people that are there are really appreciative that we do it and it’s usually a really good time.”
The choir’s goal was to spread holiday cheer throughout the community by providing entertainment throughout the holidays.
“It’s just one more thing that we do in December to get out in the community to give back,” Wright said. “We can provide a little bit of entertainment and to show off what our students do.”
Varsity Vocals, Bella Voce and the Ambassadors will be singing more holiday songs at their holiday concert on Dec. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ruby Zima Auditorium.
