Amador’s student orchestra and choir performed their Winter Concert at the Amador Theater on Thursday, December 15th. This concert showcased the musicians’ semester progress throughout the year and marked Shelley Durbin’s first semester directing the choir and orchestra at Amador. Attendance for audience members was free, unlike other years.

“I don’t think I’m trying to rewrite the whole history of winter concerts here at Amador but more trying to give the audience a sense of what the orchestra and I, or the choir and I, can do in partnership,” said Durbin.

One unique thing Durbin has implemented was a student-conducted orchestra piece. During the concert, Durbin passed her baton over to violinist, Haben Naizghin (‘26), to direct the String Orchestra in their “Spirited Away” performance. “Spirited Away” was one of many songs unrelated to Christmas that Durbin chose for the night. 

“I like Christmas music, but I also like a wide range of music, so I’m definitely not trying to just play the music that we think of as holiday tunes. They have a part in it, but I really like to play music from as many styles and cultures as I can and give the nod to the holiday season without necessarily spending all the effort on that sort of thing,” said Durbin.

 The Concert Choir sang the Hanukkah song, “Hanerot,” and the String Orchestra played a lively traditional piece titled “S’Vivon.” The Choir and String Orchestra joined together to perform “Somewhere in My Memory.” The combined choir serenaded four student volunteers along with Mr. Grantham to Mariah Carrey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

“I feel like anyone who can come is welcome. I feel very strongly that music is a gift that you give others. So in line with that, we would love to give the gift of music to a live audience”  said  Durbin.

Not all performances are finished for this month. The choir classes plan to go caroling to finish off the semester.

“I’m not sure what Christmas songs we will be doing this time, but it will be a lot of fun. It’s always a tradition every year,” said Chamber Choir member Rachel Glenn (‘23).