OLHCA High School Students Spend An Evening With the Holiday Brass

They were accompanied by an assortment of staff and alumni, including Fr. Flanery, Fr. May, Mr. Estrada, Mr. Eddy, Miss Eddy, Miss Isermann, Miss Cantelmi, Mrs. Bushnell, Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer, and Mrs. De La Torre. The students arrived at the Church before the event, gathering in the vestibule and admiring their classmates’ black tie attire before heading downtown with their chaperones.

The group arrived at the Performing Arts complex amid large and festive crowds, all dressed up to enjoy an evening out with the many performances happening during the week before Christmas. They walked to the Boettcher Concert Hall and took their places in the balcony seating. 

The lights soon dimmed and the performers arrived on the stage. As the name ‘Holiday Brass’ suggests, the ensemble consisted of French horns, trumpets, tubas, and trombones, with several drums and an organ giving accompaniment. The performance included classic Christmas songs and carols like ‘Joy to the World’ and ‘Sleigh Ride,’ as well as a selection of pieces that were new to the students like ‘Baltazar’, which tells the tale of the journey of the Three Kings. The selection was interspersed with commentaries by the conductor between each performance, explaining the pieces and their composers. These commentaries included an eclectic mix of the conductor’s personal stories and the history of antiphonal music in the Church. 

After a group picture outside of the event center, the students returned to the Church around 10:00 p.m. to head home.  The venue for the event was amazing (as should be expected) and the students enjoyed the performance immensely.