Fort Scott students to brighten the season with songs

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Local students will provide a variety of holiday sounds during special concerts scheduled for next week.

The bands at Fort Scott Middle School and Fort Scott High School will give their annual holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Fort Scott High School gymnasium, 1005 S. Main St.

The FSHS band, which consists of 75 members, and the FSMS band, which has about 175 youngsters, will play a variety of traditional Christmas songs during the one-hour concert, including entire songs and medleys, director James Fox said.

"There's a lot of medley at the high school level, snippets of songs ... segments of songs put together," he said.

The show will feature a sampling of music the bands practice during class, Fox added.

"It's a sampling of what we do in class rather than everything," he said.

Fox said the bands spend about five to six weeks preparing for each concert they perform throughout the year. Preparation includes rehearsal in and out of class.

Fox said he is proud of the growth and improvement both bands have shown since he took over as director several years ago.

"The program keeps growing and I think keeps improving and it's based on kids' work ethic and hard work they do to try and make the band better every day," he said. "Eight years ago when I got here, there were 85 in the entire band program."

The FSHS choir program will present its annual Holiday Choral Concert at 8 p.m. Monday in the auditorium of the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center on the Fort Scott Community College campus, 2108 S. Horton.

Choir members have been rehearsing frequently over the last two months in preparation for the show, choral instructor Pat Harry said.

"We have been working in class time and one evening a week since mid-October," she said. "And we're anxious to have the opportunity to perform it for family, friends and the community."

Choirs that will perform include the robed concert choir, the select ensemble, the women's ensemble, the freshman choir and freshman ensemble.

The one-hour program involves more than 150 FSHS students. Harry will direct the choir and will be accompanied by pianist Darcy Baldonado.

A varied repertoire of holiday classics and music of the season, including familiar carols and popular selections such as "The Prayer" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is expected to be performed. Other tunes include "Sleigh Ride," "Marshmallow World," and "Jingle Bells."

This will be the third time the choir has performed inside the fine arts center, a venue that Harry said is most suitable for the performance of vocal music.

Donations to the choir program will be accepted on the evening of the concert at a table that will be set up in the facility's lobby, Harry said. Any contributions will go toward defraying the cost of performing at the center, she added.

Both concerts are free of charge. The public is invited to attend.