“The fall concert was just an appetizer,” Margaret Neiswender, director of instrumental music said.

The 2017 Winter Concert, on December 8, starts with three songs presented by the Hill Orchestra and follows with three songs from the Hill Jazz Ensemble. The Hilltones & Hilltrebles will then perform two holiday songs. The concert will close with the Hill Jazz Ensemble playing “Afro Blue,” one of the most widely interpreted pieces in the field of Latin Jazz, and “Jingle-bell Rock.”

The winter concerts are different from other concerts throughout the year in terms of the ratio of instrumental and vocal performances.

“The Hill School Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble always took the main stage for the Winter Music Concert, and we’re grateful to take a small part of the concert!” Yoon Soo Lim, Oaklawn-Tuttle director of vocal music, said. “The annual Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols takes place two days after the Winter Concert; all the vocalists will be singing for that event.”

Both the orchestra and jazz ensemble will be playing several holiday pieces.

“Many students in jazz ensemble will be playing their solos in “Afro Blue,” which I think will be the highlight of the night,” Neiswender said.

Larry Lo ’18, co-president of the Hill Jazz Ensemble, will be conducting “Jingle-bell Rock” this year. It is a tradition in the jazz ensemble for one of the co-presidents to conduct “Jingle-bell Rock” every year in the winter concert.

“I’m most excited for the latter part of ‘Jingle-bell Rock,’ when someone dresses up in the ram costume and comes up to the stage. The entire audience will cheer the holiday spirits with the musicians.” Lo said.

We wear reindeer headbands and Christmas hats during the winter concert every year,” Rachel Liu ‘20, a two-year member of the Hill Orchestra, said. “We are very excited to play ‘Highlights from Harry Potter,’ a piece from the movie soundtrack that is famously known.”

This is also the first year the winter concert will be held without the Cultural Credit Opportunity (CCO) or other mandatory attendance. Most of the faculty members and the musicians view this change as a wise idea.

“The students should come to the concerts because they appreciate the quality of music that people on stage are producing, or because they are looking to support their friends,” Neiswender said.

Lim remarked that in the past, the Cultural Credit Opportunity (CCO) had boosted attendance for some performances at the Hill. However, there was such a great turn out during the Fall Music Festival, that even without a CCO, many students came out to support the performing students.

“I would love to see that at some point in all of Hill students,” Lim said.