Keokuk High Winter Jams!

By: Angel McGlasson

On Tuesday December 17th the Keokuk Concert Choir and the bands took  stage at the Grand Theatre. The concert choir began the concert by singing Still Still Still, White Winter Hymnal, Welcome Winter, and a variety of Christmas Carols. The band then continued the concert with some sweet tunes.

Concert choir meets every day during third hour and practice their music reading skills for two months prior to the concert. "I pick songs at the beginning of the year based upon songs that I learn about at my choir director conferences. We have an entire room full of choir music that I can pick from for the year. I try and have a good variety of texts, languages, and styles of music at every concert. I also try to pick things that will suit my singer's voices and be songs they will enjoy." said Katie Sullivan. She was then asked what the most stressful thing about the winter concert is. She said that because is isn't at the school she trusts that the students will find a ride there and be in uniform when are supposed to be there.

The band meets every day during fifth hour and practice their music to help prep for their concerts. "We are prepping for a concert every rehearsal. Every rehearsal needs to help us progress on the music and technique our program demands of us, and every rehearsal brings us another day closer to that performance. As the concert approaches , we begin running the pieces as a whole and only rehearse small things and fine-tune spots." said Mr. Knipe the band director here at Keokuk High. Knipe was then asked how he picks his music and he went on to say "Just like in literature, there are what are considered "classic" pieces or "staples". My goal is to expose the band to these "classics" and let them gain the skills and knowledge that these pieces demand of them. From there, it's programming diverse things around it - a big opening piece/overture, a lyrical/ballad type of piece, flashy and fiery closing pieces. The process takes time, but is rewarding to have such a balanced and diverse program that both the band members performing and the audience members listening will enjoy." The main thing that stresses Mr. Knipe out about the holiday concert is the high chance of there being bad weather the night before or the day of which can limit the students transportation and timeliness while limiting the amount of people that are able to make it.