Each winter, the St. Thomas Aquinas High School Chorale performs in an annual Christmas Concert. Students in the STA Chorale work hard in rigorous rehearsals to prepare music in four part harmonies. This year’s Vocal Concert took place on Thursday, December 4th, at 6:30 PM in the Bienes Center for the Arts.
The Vocal Music program is led by the very capable conducting baton of Wanda Drozdovitch. Referred to lovingly by her students as “Ms. D, ” Drozdovitch is in her 7th year as a director of choral activities at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Under her direction STA Chorale performed twice at Carnegie Hall and three times at Epcot Candlelight Processional.
This year’s concert theme was Victorian Christmas Re-Imagined. The program featured Victorian-era Christmas carols presented in jazz, pop, and contemporary arrangements. Even the opening selection, Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, was re-imagined with a contemporary accompaniment. Repertoire was performed in a variety of voicings, including SATB, SSAA, and TTBB.
One of the concert’s most significant highlights was Carol of the Bells/Shchedryk, arranged by Gordon Badgett. This work combines the traditional Carol of the Bells melody with both English text and the original Ukrainian lyrics. Written with complex rhythmic patterns, frequent meter changes, and nuanced dynamic contrasts, the piece is included on the collegiate repertoire list and required over two months of intensive preparation. Two seniors who participated in the event, Mallory McKeon and Cody Straka, both agreed that “Shedryk” was the hardest piece that they had to learn because they had to sing in both English and Ukrainian.
Student performers represented all levels of the choral program, from Freshman Choir—making their concert debut—to Senior Chorale.
Drozdovitch shared, “Our choral concerts consistently sell out, and I hope that in the future more members of the school community, beyond performers’ families, will take the opportunity to attend and support these performances.” Mckeon added “the crowd at the event was amazing and very energetic which encouraged the chorale to perform the best they can.” Straka explained that “it was amazing to feel the energy of the crowd and being able to put on a good performance for them.”
