On December 14th, the Amador Valley Concert Band performed their annual winter concert. This year, the concert was held in the Amador theater from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. 

The band played  festive holiday music to celebrate the winter season such as  A Hanukkah Festival and A Christmas Flourish. The performers have been practicing every day as a class, with at home practice too, for the past few months to prepare for this concert. 

“Some of the groups have been preparing for this concert since October, and some of the groups have been preparing since November, so[we have been working for] maybe four to six weeks,” said Band Director Jon Grantham.

There were two parts to this concert. In the first half of the concert, the performers were part of the concert band,  the Clarinet Quartet, the Symphonic Band Gold,  the Trombone Quartet, and the Symphonic Band Purple. In the second half, the performers were from Wind Ensemble II, Saxophone Ensemble, Wind Ensemble I, Jazz B, and Jazz A. Many performers had nerves coming into the concert.

“I was worried about the technique for the Wind I music and especially for the Tchaikovsky No. 4 because it’s a really hard piece that Wind I is attempting this year. I do have lots of exposed parts, so if I mess up, it is going to be really obvious,” said Valerie Xu (‘25).

Tickets were not needed to watch the concert, but donations were being taken. The band was also selling holiday related things like ornaments outside of the theater. In a band consisting of 320 students and with performers ranging from freshmen to seniors, many students in the audience came to watch their classmates perform. 

“I think that it is very enlightening and cool to see my friends be able to put their talents out into the world and be admired by people for what they do. I think that it is very nice to watch them succeed at what they enjoy,” said Jaime Holling (‘23)

At the end of the night the Jazz band ended the concert with God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Cotton Tail.