Despite being postponed for a few days due to inclement weather, Monday night’s Highland Winter Concert was well attended by Superintendent Joel Freer, administrators, principals, friends and family.

Instrumental Director Dan Shaut’s Jazz Ensemble kicked things off with the Miles Davis standard, ‘So What,’ from his bestselling 1959 album ‘Kind of Blue.’ This was followed by another Davis selection, ‘Four’ from the album ‘Blue Haze.’

The ensemble branched out to perform Herbie Hancock’s ‘Chameleon’ and concluded their set with ‘Tiger of San Pedro, by trumpeter/composer John Labarbera.

The High School Choir, under the direction of guest Director Mireille Weissberg, opened with ‘Thina Singu,’ a traditional Zulu folksong that is popular in Lesotho and South Africa. The title translates to ‘We are a burning fire...burn’ and was arranged by Mark Burrows.

The choir sang Pulitzer Prize winner Lin-Manuel Miranda’s, ‘Keep the Beat’ arranged by Andy Beck. Their set concluded with George Frederick Handel’s ‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ a seasonal favorite.

The full Concert Band opened with the challenging ‘Dances of a Shimmering Spirit,” a composition by American composer/arranger Robert Sheldon. Next the band performed ‘The Seal Lullaby’ by Grammy Award winner Eric Whitacre and rounded out their set with ‘Heroica’, composed by marching band director/professor Dr. Gary Gilroy.

The Winter Concert concluded with the combined Band and Choir performing the ‘Holiday Medley,’ from the Polar Express, composed by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard.

After the concert Dan Shaut said he was pleased with all of the singers and musicians who performed. He said the Jazz Ensemble tackled some very challenging pieces, adding, “I thought they played well and I thought it was a lot of fun to end with the band and the choir performing the Polar Express medley.”

Shaut said it was wonderful to have Mireille Weissberg who was filling in for Erin Matthews, who is on maternity leave.

Weissberg said her students loved performing even though for some it was their first time.

“I thought they presented themselves very well and most of all they had a great time,” she said. “It was all about singing but at the same time, about enjoying and I think the people enjoyed it too.”

Shaut said, “for the whole semester we’re both developing proper fundamentals, getting the rust off from the summer and starting to get introduced to a new repertoire.” He said a challenge of a small school like Highland, “for both of us is we have incoming freshmen, so the music is a lot harder [for them].”

Shaut lost about 15 kids who graduated last June, “and the choir lost almost all of their baritones,” with Weissberg calling it a, “fresh new start.”

Shaut said they are already preparing for their High School Rock concert that is scheduled for January 19.

“We have a professional musician coming in named Keith Anthony Fluit and he is a master at singing like Earth, Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder, so it’s going to be a 1970s theme.”

High School Principal Kevin Murphy said the concert was, “outstanding. We’re always proud of our student musicians. They spend a lot of time preparing for their concerts and performances and there is a lot of dedication and tenacity that goes into their preparations for this.”

Murphy said these students have to find a balance between their musical and academic commitments, while performing, “at the top of their game, so we are very proud of them.”