They Made it Rain with a Happy Refrain

It was a rainy Friday night. Guests arrived early to secure seats for the Upper School Fine Arts Festival. With minutes left until the anticipated start time of the concert, music director Mrs. Lingenhoel rushed back to her room to grab socks. She had given her shoes to a student to wear during the performance and was rushing to put socks on to avoid having to conduct barefoot - a testament to the kind of person and teacher she is. Upon resolving the shoe mishap, she assumed her role up front and began the concert. 

 

 

The Upper School band kicked off the night with their classical segment, which included pieces by Leopold Mozart and Robert Sheldon. Small ensembles followed with captivating performances of Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and Johannes Brahm's  "Hungarian Dance No. 5."

 

 

The Upper School choir opened up their portion of the night by transporting the audience to early 18th century Italy as they circled the gym singing the Latin equivalent of the words "sing to the Lord a new song" from Giuseppe Pitoni's Cantate Domino. After this uplifting surround sound experience, they took their places on the platform and sang the Grammy Award-winning piece "Baba Yetu" by Christopher Tin. Israel N. sang the solo. He and his sister, Bereeth N., had helped the choir learn the lyrics to this musical rendition of the Lord's Prayer in Swahili. Timothy M. played the drums. Bereeth sang the solo a couple of songs later, along with JT B. in the Gospel song "He Never Failed Me Yet." 

 

 

During Intermission, guests had the opportunity to view the Upper School Art Exhibition led by art teacher Mr. Kyle McEachron. This display included thought-provoking mixed media pieces speaking into subjects such as wasting time, letting go of the past, and the dangers of technology, as well as fun depictions of the first Nintendo Gameboy and a guitar comprised of animal pictures. 

 

 

After Intermission, the band took us to the movies. A medley from the scores of "The Lion King" and the "Avengers" theme were big hits with the crowd. Then, it was the choir's turn to pay homage to the big screen. First, they broke out their umbrellas for a colorful performance of "Singing in The Rain." They then closed out the night with two heartwarming songs from "The Greatest Showman." Eun Song K. and Svetlana W.​ sang beautiful solos in "This Is Me." Before the final song, Mrs. Lingenhoel honored the graduating seniors for their time in choir and band. Seniors returned to the stage and sang the lyrics "A million dreams for the world we're gonna make" as they performed their last song with the ICSB choir before going out into the world for the next chapter of their lives. Min K. sang a moving solo in this final piece of the night. 

 

 

Overall, it was an uplifting night. It was clear every participating musician and artist, Mr. Kyle McEachron and Mrs. Rebecca Lingenhoel really put their heart into it and that Mrs. Lingenhoel had given much more than a pair of shoes to bring the best out of her students.