Annual Celebration of the Arts Sets Christmas Tone

For many of us, the countdown to Christmas begins shortly after the clock strikes midnight on December 26th. This may not be the case for all, so the students of the Fine and Performing Arts at St. Augustine are there every year for the few who may have a little Scrooge in them.

On Sunday, December 3rd over 160 of our talented students participated in St. Augustine Prep’s Annual Celebration of the Arts. The Buondonno Forum was transformed through the hard work of our faculty and students along with a generous helping hand from NMR Events and the Meduri Family (P ’17 & ’21). The Consalo Dining Hall became an art gallery displaying the exquisite and detailed work of our art students ranging from emerging to experienced. The Rodio Gym rivaled any concert hall in the world as our scholar-musicians presented a pleasing winter and Christmas repertoire that displayed their hard work and growth throughout the academic year.

The musical portion of the evening began with the combined Concert band performing “Wizards in Winter” by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. St. Augustine Prep’s famed A Cappella group, The TestosterTones, kicked off the Choral Program with a set of varying musical numbers that thrilled the festive audience that filled the venue. Highlights from their performance included solos by John Kosylo ’18 and Brandon Nailor ’18 in “Runaround Sue,” and a tongue-in-cheek performance of an Old American Folk Song, “I Wish I Was Single Again.” The Intermediate Stage Band followed the rousing performance as well as another A Cappella set, this time by our Select Chorus, which included a unique African Christmas Song with percussion accompaniment, titled “Betelehemu.” The concert concluded with five selections of Jazz variations on traditional Christmas songs by our Advanced Stage Band and a performance of our 90-member Men’s Chorus performing their version of “Let it Go.”

Over the past four years, the Arts department at St. Augustine Prep has drastically and the annual Christmas event has served as tangible proof of its continued rise. In 2014 the Winter Concert took place in the Consalo Dining Hall with a just over 60 students from our community participating in the event. Since that time, the Fine and Performing Arts Department has more than doubled in size with continued improvement in student performance as individuals and performing ensembles. Throughout the semester, the Choral Program has completed performances all over the state with upcoming performances due at the Ocean City Library on New Year’s Eve for their annual “First Night” celebration.

To our scholar-artists and musicians, we thank you for kicking off the Christmas season and we look forward to the future performances throughout the remainder of the year!

Enjoy photos from this year’s celebration courtesy of Mitchell Shields ’18 and Fine Arts Faculty Member, Ms. Shaunna White: goo.gl/iD97ZY