As the Advent season began, St. Robert School was awaiting its annual Christmas concert at the end of December. The Christmas concert brought the opportunity for the entire school community to perform for parents and loved ones. The Christmas concert took place in the church, where all students participated in showcasing their talents to bring Christmas cheer to their audience! 

The Christmas concert highlighted three different sectors of music: band, choir, and strings. Each grade level took a turn singing and/or playing their instrument. Carolina K., a seventh grade cellist, was very eager to perform as she said, “I am excited about the Christmas concert because we can play lots of Christmas music, and share what we have been working on for many months.” Every student worked incredibly hard to produce this concert as the kids needed to sing multiple songs, and for a large number of the middle school students, play instruments. Carolina learned two pieces on her cello, working in school and out so she could perfect her songs: “I practice most of the days on my own after school, but in school, we review parts and practice together as a group. ” The ensemble began to practice months before the concert so they could ensure a great outcome. Many classes started their concert preparation in their first music class of the year! “We have been progressing with our songs more and more due to our hard work and practice,” Carolina noted. Carolina was very excited and amazed by her group’s improvement and was so excited to display her hard work for her loved ones. 

The Christmas concerts’ main source of music was the students’ voices. All kindergarten through fifth grade students performed up to two songs vocally, and the middle school choir presented three to four songs. The middle school choir has over fifty students from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade split groups. Choir student and seventh grader Eilee was super enthusiastic to be performing in this concert as a devoted choir member, “I am looking forward to showcasing our musical talents towards our families.” The large choir made a grand arrangement of songs ranging from traditional Christmas music to Christmas songs in different languages. This year Ms. Rhode, the choir director, is including American Sign Language in one of the songs as well. Silent Night was sung by the middle school choir as well as performed in American Sign Language. “Using American Sign Language Shows our parents the dedication we put into the choir, and shows how we are learning different cultures as well,” Eilee said.  She is proud to be learning about different cultures and ways of living. 

This year, St. Robert introduced many new faces to the musical ensemble, especially in the Middle School. Eden Mrochinski joined the middle school concert band after transitioning from East-Brook Academy. Eden plays the Tenor Saxophone and was very excited to participate in her very first Christmas concert. Eden loves her new experiences in the St. Robert music program as well as the preparation for the Christmas concert as she said, “I am very excited to be a part of this music program as well as participate in a Christmas concert because at my old school they were all shut down.” Eden was very enthusiastic about performing in the Christmas concert after many years without performances. 

As Christmas drew closer, preparations for the concert intensified. Everyone was very ready to perform in the concert to show the St. Robert community, how they were the light this Christmas season.