Winter concert brings choir and orchestra together

On December 18, PHS choirs and orchestras performed in the 80th annual Winter Concert at the Princeton University Chapel. To honor the Neo-Gothic architecture of the chapel, the choirs sang sacred music, and the orchestras finely tuned their instruments to fit the chapel’s echo.

At the end of the winter concert, the choir program participated in a tradition where they invited PHS alumni to sing Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” and “Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light” by Johann Sebastian Bach with current students. To prepare for the concert, the choir members rehearsed their songs in class every day and rehearsed out of school, making sure that they had their pieces memorized.

“Last year we got a lot of one-on-one time with the teachers, but it’s different this year, because there’s a lot more people, so it [was] harder to make sure we got everything completely right,” said Milania Kapoor ’27.

However, the members of each choir were able to overcome their struggles by putting in hours of hard work and dedication to perform each piece.

The choirs sang a variety of songs from different periods, with a mix of classical and contemporary pieces. PHS Choir performed pieces that were orchestrated so that they could be performed with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra as well.

“PHS Choir [performed] a piece called ‘The Snow’ by Elgar with orchestra with the Princeton Symphony and they [did] with piano at the winter concert. It’s a beautiful piece,” said Vocal Music Teacher Sarah Pelletier.

The repertoire also consisted of songs from different languages, such as Latin, German and Hebrew. The choirs also sang songs of varying tempos, and styles.

“I’m most excited for when it all [came] together for the concert and being able to perform it for everybody,” said Kapoor.

The PHS Orchestra students have been practicing since the start of the school year to delve into the composers’ artistic intentions.

“It’s a very grand structure, and so the sounds have a tendency to bounce around a bit. For an ensemble to perform there, it’s a wonderful challenge,” said Instrumental Music Teacher Robert Loughran.

The orchestra will be performing an array of both classical and more modern pieces, including a new Latin flavor.

“‘Le Grand Tango’ by Astor Piazzolla features a solo cellist as well as really interesting orchestra parts. It also actually takes us to Argentina with the rhythms, with the colors that the composer has imagined,” said Loughran.

With a large orchestra, collaboration was essential to ensure a cohesive sound.

“The hardest part of preparing for the concert is trying to put things together and be able to listen to the other people around you in the orchestra, being able to stay together and rehearse off one another. It’s not your part that matters, but how you work with others in the orchestra,” said pianist Chen Jiang ’27.

Besides the classical orchestral instruments, Nassau 2 bass player Bora Akbay ’27 will also be performing alongside PHSO. “I’m really confident for the concert. Being a junior in Nassau 2, I’ve had a lot of time to prepare. I feel the most prepared I have, even before Mr. Bongiovi and Mr. Pollack left for [tour], I think they’ve done a great job in preparing me for being able to play the parts that I need to play,” said Akbay.

A key component in achieving a harmony of different sounds for one composition is maintaining both a grace with other instruments and a unique quality to individual roles in order to keep the piece cohesive and interesting.

“We played a double bass part, because a lot of pieces don’t have piano parts and for double bass, we kind of have that lowest voice that adds a presence to the songs,” said Jiang.