Lemont HS Music Department Set For Upcoming Holiday Concerts

LEMONT, IL — To celebrate the holidays, Lemont High School’s music department will hold concerts on Dec. 5 and Dec. 11, featuring the school’s band and choir. Both concerts will begin at 7 p.m., with the Performing Arts Center doors opening for general seating at 6:30 p.m., according to a news release from LHS.

On Dec. 5, members of the band and choir will join students from general music classes in forming numerous small ensembles to put on a “Prism” concert. The Dec. 11 event will feature both the bands and choir in a more traditional concert, with the ensembles performing full group numbers, the school said.

The Lemont High School band is under the direction of Ben Clemons, while Dave Nommensen leads the choir. The band and choral programs will perform a range of selections over the two events.

The “Prism” show on Dec. 5 will offer both music written for the genre, as well as a myriad of holiday favorites, according to LHS. It will feature an array of small student-led ensembles, including percussion, vocal, brass, woodwind, and mixed instrument duets, trios, quartets, quintets and more. The audience will be treated to a continuous stream of performance, “fusing” the music of several ensembles into a continuous stream of sound. Special lighting effects will add to the event.

The combined Concert Band will perform several selections at the Dec. 11 concert, including “Twas the Night Before Christmas” arranged by Jack Bullock, “Selections from Princess Mononoke” by Joe Hisaishi, “Salvation is Created” arranged by Bruce Houseknecht, and “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson.

On Dec. 11, the Choir is slated to perform “Ad Astra” by Jacob Naverud, “New Fallen Snow” by Stan Pethel, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” by P.I. Tchaikovsky, “Somewhere in My Memory” by John Williams, “Cold Snap” by Mark Hayes, and “A Million Dreams” by Benj Pasek, the school said.

Admission to each concert is free, but attendees are encouraged to bring a canned good or paper good, which will in turn be donated to local food pantries, the school said. All items are welcome, but specific items needed include hygiene products (no toothpaste) and home care products.