halloween: The PS22 Chorus Ushers In The Holiday Season With Its Ninth Annual Holiday Choral Concert!

On Wednesday, December 17th, the kids at PS22 gave an incredible holiday performance at the school for family and friends! The Holiday Choral Concert of 2008 had an abundance of memorable moments. The fourth grade chorus were a revelation, and showed that the future of the PS22 Chorus is definitely in good hands....

The chorus began with "VIVA LA VIDA" by Coldplay, with April leading the chorus in another brilliant version. Following that, Julian did an incredible job singing solo as the chorus presented the Christmas traditional, "In The Bleak Midwinter".

Then Samantha took the stage for "Maoz Tsur", the traditional Chanukah song. Here is a beautiful version taken from rehearsal.

"Maoz Tsur"
ps22 chorus p.s.22 choir ps p.s. 22 2009 2008 chanukah maoz tsur mao tsor tzur tzor rock of ages let our song praise thy saving power

Next, Allie did an absolutely gorgeous version of "My Favorite Things" from THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Is it me, or are these kids growing as singers and performers right before our eyes?! They just seem to get better and better, and Allie's performance here is just astounding.

After that, Maya took the stage for a fantastic version of "One Day" by Bjork. Maya did such a beautiful job on this one!

The chorus kept things going with two amazing full chorus songs -- "Sky Fits Heaven" by Madonna, and "The Seven Principles", a little melody I cooked up to put the actual principles of Kwanzaa into song.

Monet was up next, leading the chorus in a spectacular version of The Beatles classic, "Across The Universe". Then Melina did some fantastic soloing on an awesome version of the Michael Jackson Christmas classic, "Little Christmas Tree". Then we finished off with one of the chorus's huge hits this year, "White Christmas", which gained an astonishing number of viewers thanks to Perez Hilton posting it on his blog. The rendition of "Little Christmas Tree" below was taken during rehearsal and performed by the chorus coaches.

No show is complete without a good encore, and the PS22 Chorus gave a 3 song encore consisting of our biggest internet hit to date, "1000 Oceans" by Tori Amos. Allie really served it, and the chorus sounded magnificent. This song has over 158,000 views and counting as of December 2008, again, thanks to another Perez Hilton plug. Then the amazing Samantha returned for a "Let There Be Peace On Earth". Then the unbelievable Tirzah finished off the festivities with a high energy version of "My Drive Thru", the Converse Commercial song performed by Santogold, Julian Casablancas, N.E.R.D., and produced by Pharrell! I'm including this a capella rendition of "Let There Be Peace On Earth" taken from rehearsal, because in my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful recordings the kids have ever done.

At the show's conclusion, former PS22 Chorus member Isaiah gave a rockin' encore of his own with "Run Run Rudolph"!

To finish the night, the kids sang a rather frightening version of "Happy Birthday" to Mr. B, but actually made a very beautiful presentation afterwards, which meant a great deal! (Thanks kids!) It's safe to say it was a special evening for everyone present. Here are some more pics from this unforgettable night!

Tyriq