As the holiday spirit was drawing near, West High’s music program performed their yearly winter concert for all to hear. Every song was played with passion and emotion throughout the night. Smiles and laughs were the common sights seen at the concert.

The winter concert was a showcase and a collaboration of every Jazz, Band, Choir and Orchestra group at West. The pieces performed gave a variety of emotions from comedic to somber and energetic to soothing. Each group performed pieces separately, but united at the end to do “Christmas at the movies” a performance that dived you into the Christmas spirit. Every ensemble worked together to produce the music that stirred emotions and made you yearning for the holidays to come quicker.

This concert was a first for some and a last for others. Mr. Raman recognized this and delivered a heartwarming speech to his students new and old to inspire and prepare them before the concert. The unity of the ‘Packs’ music program was clear, one would never feel left out when you joined the group.  Senior Jaydene Michel recounts the changes seen in her last winter concert at West High, “We did our best to have the music program together and that is something different that we want to do as a music program… We want to be connected with each ensemble which brings us closer together as a family.”  Freshman Aria Jacinto is optimistic for the future of the ‘Packs’ music program after her first performance, “I think that we can go to very good places with this program… This only being my first year I think we’ve already done a lot, and I think we can do a lot more in the next three years.”

West’s music program has gone through some new changes in the recent years. Donations were accepted during the concert to lead the students in the program to discover a future in music or further education in college. Donations are used for competitions, festivals, repairs, tours and evaluation by professionals.  “We’re financing dreams,” Raman said. “We’re hoping that these experiences that we have, these tours and festivals, that each student will have some sort of spark of ‘I can see myself on this campus.”

Music is a universal language one can enjoy, relate and feel inspired by. Students showcasing their skills not only reveal their progress to their peers and families, it opens up new opportunities for the future with life lessons learned. The winter concert left the audience with great expectations for the next concert to come.