As the air outside gets colder, the atmosphere in the auditorium is warmed by choir’s annual holiday concert, a celebration of the cheerful season and the music it inspires. Thurs., Dec. 14 members of the community seeked out an escape from the recently fallen snow in the performance that all three ensembles (along with the two extracurricular choirs) have been working on since the beginning of the school year.

Concert choir opened the concert accompanied by York’s Symphonic Orchestra to perform Schubert’s Mass in G, continuing the tradition of performing a major work at every holiday concert. Three soloists were featured, Mike Bindeman (junior), Jake Rehling (junior), and Carina Kanzler (senior). They were selected by two judges at an audition in the beginning of the year and have been working to perfect the piece throughout the semester as the performance draws closer.

“Singing with a full orchestra is a unique experience,” Bindeman said. “Having that backing makes for a much grander feeling and also helps to make more of a partnership between the singer and the accompaniment… with a full orchestra both sides are equally accented and you have to really work to allow both to bloom.”

After the master work concluded, the boys took over with their rendition of “A King is Born.” The upbeat calypso featured soloists Sebastian Rohn (sophomore) and Jake Rehling (junior). The spirit of the upbeat piece was intensified by senior percussionists Nathan Brown and Eric Doberstein, and was a favorite for all the boys onstage.

“I love the tropic-like feel the percussion gave the song,” Rohn said. “It really took the piece to the next level and made the whole arrangement very fun.”

After the performance from the boys Vida took the stage, an all girls extracurricular a capella group. Madrigals, the other extracurricular choir performed as well with classic holiday favorites such as “Silent Night” and “Masters In this Hall”.

“We sing “Masters In This Hall” every year and it’s my favorite,” said senior member of Madrigals Katharine Bartosz. “It’s such a good song.”

Cadet choir, composed of incoming freshmen, were very excited to perform their first concert as a part of the York choir. While seniors are enjoying taking the stage to sing their favorite holiday tunes for the last time, freshmen are getting a look at what they’ll be working on for the next four years.

“My first holiday concert was an amazing experience,” said freshman Charlie Kungl, member of cadet choir. “I’ve never been to a performance like it, and seeing the older choirs perform was really eye opening because of the amount of talent on the stage. It really blew me away.”

The second choir, choraliers, composed of all girls, performed their set that featured a piece accompanied by members of the York jazz band titled “Glow”. They returned later in the concert to join the girls from York’s Concert Choir to sing a classic holiday favorite, “Believe” from the Polar Express accompanied by a full orchestra.

Concert choir, the largest and oldest choir of the three began their set with “O Little Town of Bethlehem” accompanied by saxophonist Matt Dardick. They also performed “Sure on this Shining Night,” the piece that the choir submitted when the music department won the Grammy in 2012.

“I enjoyed playing with the choir because of the intensity and energy they put into making a lyrical piece of music as beautiful as possible,” Dardick said.

The orchestra returned to the stage to accompany the concert choir in the last song of the night “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”. The arrangement included a fanfare that showcased the musical talent of York’s instrumentalists and was a perfect cap to the evening.

“Collaboration is what the performing arts strive for,” said choir director Rebecca Marianetti. “When all come together to make music, beauty is achieved.”