The winter strings concert happened on Wednesday the 14th here at Bel Air high school in the auditorium. Conducted by Mr. O’Neill the two string groups in the school, the guitar ensemble and the string orchestra, played. As with all of the concerts this week the string groups ask for a donation of canned non-perishable food for the manna house. The manna house is a food drive that provides for needy families in the Baltimore area, the music groups usually ask for donations during the winter concerts and they decided to go through the manna house this year. For more information please go to http://www.mannahouseinc.org/.
The guitar ensemble opened the night of great music with El Tutu, a traditional Italian carol arranged by the ensemble and Orchestra conductor Me. O’Neill. This song was followed by Margarideta which is a Catalan folk song. Greensleeves was then played, a commonly known traditional English folk tune it is also more commonly known as What Child is This. This song was followed by Bouree in A minor, written by the famous J.S. Bach. After Bouree the very famous Carol of the Bells Caravan was played. Carol of the Bells Caravan is a very famous Christmas tune that sadly more people know it as “ding fries are done”. The next two songs were solo pieces. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Ding Dong Merrily on High included soloists Julia Street and Hannah Stambaugh on the first and Christian Svoboda and Kenny Manos playing on the first.
The Orchestra then took the stage. Opening with the Overture to “The Abduction from the Seraglio” composed by W.A. Mozart. Following the overture was an arrangement of the coffee dance from the Nut Cracker and We Three Kings by Robert Longfield called Journey of the Magi. Afterwards the official sounding Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 8 was played