Excitement filled the air during the music department’s 102nd annual winter concert, led by director Kyoko Yamamoto on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

Senior chorister Jeffrey Galvez said everyone gave their best in the concert, despite sickness and other challenges.

“Most proud of, I say, just everybody showing up and putting their best out there,” Galvez said. “The week before, a lot of people were sick, a lot of people had difficulty showing up to class: sickness, personal reasons.”

The concert began with the jazz ensemble, featuring multiple solos on tenor saxophone, guitar, alto saxophone, and trumpet in songs such as “Space City Shuffle,” “Seven Steps to Heaven,” and “El Abrazo.” Junior trumpeter Stephen Jankowski commented on the trumpet section’s performance.

“We could have had a better balance amongst us and compared to the other sections, because we tend to kind of overpower the other sections in some parts of the songs, but overall it was pretty good,” Jankowski said.

Next came the vocal jazz ensemble, which performed “Forever Blue,” “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road,” and a lyrical composition of “Africa” by TOTO. According to Galvez, “Forever Blue” was the “most important” song in the ensemble’s repertoire.

“Because we nailed it so good in the performance, it was an all-around good performance, and it really showed our ability to adapt and to learn new things and to have those things turn out in the end,” Galvez said.

The chamber orchestra then played the lively “Tango Toscano” before showcasing three soloists in each movement of Vivaldi’s classic concerto “Winter.”

“I was most proud of our group as a whole. I think the bond between the orchestra is something really special, especially since we’re still kind of small, we get to know everyone really well,” junior violinist and soloist Sophia Chang said.

Next, the concert band, accompanied by members of other ensembles, played songs from the movie “Encanto,” alongside “Screamers!” and “Yorkshire Ballad.”

“It was a wonderful way to end the semester’s band experience, and it was such an amazing night,” freshman clarinetist Ruby Kendall said.

The wind ensemble brought energy with performances of “Music for a Darkened Theatre” and “John Williams Swings!”

“Personally, I think the wind ensemble did way better than I expected, and I really do believe that all the practice we put into it really benefited,” sophomore clarinetist Kayleb Schlesinger said. “And especially today during rehearsals, I feel we really dialed in on all our music, and we put out our best tonight.”

Finally, to wrap up the night, the symphony orchestra — a combination of wind and chamber orchestra — performed the classic holiday song “Sleigh Ride.”

“The highlight of the overall concert had to be ‘Sleigh Ride’ again,” Schlesinger said. “Because it really just brought everyone together from both chamber orchestra and wind ensemble, and allowed us to put out our best and play the best we can.”