The Holiday Concert is the School’s annual celebration of the winter holidays in music. Over the years, these concerts have presented a wide array of musical styles, from Renaissance motets to Duke Ellington. The 2015 concert featured Joseph Haydn’s Missa Brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo “Kleine Orgelsolomesse”, otherwise known as “The Little Organ Solo Mass.” Missa brevia is Latin for “short mass.” This short mass uses the same text as a regular mass, but completes it in half the time. To achieve brevity, Haydn overlaps text to remarkable effect. A moving organ solo accompanied Elizabeth Telford’s ’16 soprano solo in the Benedictus.
A chorus of 85 students and 16 faculty and staff joined together to sing holiday favorites like Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and Chanukah, Oy Chanukah. Feet were tapping and heads were bobbing during the Jazz Ensemble’s renditions of Feliz Navidad, featuring Deborah Williams ’16 on the steel pans, and Winter Wonderland, featuring the vocals of Dereck Marmolejos ’18. The Chamber Ensemble delighted the audience with Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Enjoy two clips from the performance. Happy Holidays from all of us at Middlesex!