The choir and band invite the community to attend their Christmas concerts Dec. 17 and 18. The choir will perform their annual Christmas concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17 in the Canyon High School auditorium. Following, on Tuesday, Dec. 18, the band will conclude the semester with their Christmas concert at 6 p.m. in the auditorium.

“The Christmas concert is always a fun one,” head choir director Brandon Farren said. “It’s filled with the joy of all the Christmas music, but a lot of that joy comes because we incorporate the audience into a lot of our music. After each choir, we have the audience stand. As one choir is getting off and the other is getting on, we always sing some Christmas carols like ‘Joy to the World’ and ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing.’ As the choirs are changing, the audience sings together, and it’s a fun family event we do for Christmas.”

Each of Canyon High’s four choirs will be performing at the concert. Farren said the show will open with the show choir, Ovation, followed by Chorale, the non-varsity choir. Bella Voce, the women’s choir, will perform third and Chamber, the top varsity group, will conclude the concert.

“The audience will get to hear a little bit of everything at this concert,” Farren said. “Everything from really early music, like Praetorius and some of these really early Renaissance pieces, all the way up to ‘Mary Did You Know’ and Pentatonix arrangements. It’s quite the eclectic collection of everything from Renaissance to modern acapella. Some the audience will know, like traditional carols, and some will be very new–things they haven’t heard yet.”

Following the concert, there will be a reception in the commons and booths set up by the choir boosters.

“We’ll have a reception afterwards in the lobby encouraging everyone to come and enjoy the fun,” Farren said. “The boosters will have booths up for anybody who has not gotten a discount card, and they’ll have several booths set up for people to pick up anything they weren’t able to get at the first concert.”

The band will perform Tuesday showcasing all bands from sixth grade to high school. The sixth grade concert will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the junior high at 7 p.m. The high school bands will conclude the concert, beginning at 8 p.m.

“This concert is special because of the Christmas music and the atmosphere,” band director Luis Hernandez said. “The kids have a lot of fun, and it’s our most laid-back concert in that the students are given the opportunity to dress in Christmas themes and pajamas. It’s relaxed–no uniforms, no nothing. They can have a little bit of fun with it.”

Hernandez said the high school will feature the concert, symphonic, jazz and honors bands.

“We encourage everyone to turn their cell phones off and enjoy the concert because the kids have worked really hard to put it together,” Hernandez said. “We will have all three bands perform plus our jazz band. All the bands will be playing some type of Christmas music along with other pieces. For example, the honors band will be playing a piece composed by Mr. Rath based on the life of Jacques Cousteau. They will also be playing their traditional and signature piece, ‘Sleigh Ride.’”

The band boosters will provide a meal, bake sale and silent auction for the audience at the concert. All proceeds raised will go to benefit the band.

“We will be providing a Mexican pile-on meal and a drink priced at $5 per person,” Band Booster vice-president Cari Thompson said. “The meals will be served starting at 6 p.m. in the commons of the high school, and everyone is invited. Both the silent auction and bake sale will open at 6 p.m. and end before the last band performs.”