Just before the holidays begin, the Annandale High School Choral Program performed their winter choral concert on Dec. 20. The concert took place in the auditorium.

After the success of their previous choral concert in the fall, director Jessica Lardin was excited to begin preparing for the winter concert.

“It’s always exciting to prepare for concerts,” Lardin said.

The Winter Choral Concert incorporated many holiday and festive pieces. The performance included all five separate AHS choirs.

The concert opened with Women’s Concert Choir, singing “Celtic Carol” featuring violinist Molly Sgrecci, and also “Candlelight Song.” Then Men’s Concert choir sang “Ose Shalom,” as well as “The First Noel/Pachelbel’s Canon” with Women’s Concert Choir joining them on stage.

Afterwards, Men’s Chorale performed “Sing We Now of Christmas,” “Blow, Blow,Thou Winter Wind,” followed by a performance of “Jingle Bells. ”Women’s Camerata, then sang “Ava Maria,” which Lardin announced was “a tough piece to sing” before the performance.

They also performed “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Following their performance, Select Women’s Ensemble performed three pieces, “Cantate Domino,” “Shout for Joy,” and “Jingle Bell Rock.”

Finally, Annandale Singers performed six pieces, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “Hymn to the Virgin,” “Processional: Personent Hodie,” “Adam Lay Ybounden,” “E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come,” and “Psallite.”

Shortly after, all five choirs combined for the last two pieces of music, “Carol of the Bells” and “Hallelujah.” Just after the concert, the choral department held a reception outside the auditorium as a simple thank you to all performers and guests.