WEST POINT – Ty Parker and the students of the West Point High School Performing Arts program are hard at work. The band may have finished its marching season, but it hardly paused to catch its breath before jumping into its next project: a full-length Christmas program featuring singers, instrumentalists, dancers and even a light show synced to the music.
Vocal soloists Micah Coucke and Leah Smith performed "O Holy Night" and "Grown Up Christmas List.”
The WPHS Dance Line performed to "Jingle Bell Rock," while the Color Guard performed to Harry Connick's rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and the majorettes danced to Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber's version of "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
Brandon and Devon Singleton played a bluegrass arrangement of "Jingle Bells" on banjo and guitar, and later the band's drum line played an all-percussion arrangement of the same tune.
The West Point Singers, the school choir, sang "Mary, Did You Know" and "The 12 Days of Christmas."
Various ensembles from within the band performed "Carol of the Bells," "The First Noel," "Angels We Have Heard on High," "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "Silent Night." The full band played "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing."
Dance instructors Maggie Stewart and Alex Raper from The Factory dance academy (who have partnered with WPHS to offer an expanded dance program at the school starting in January 2017) came and performed a contemporary dance routine to "Let It Go."
To conclude the show, the entire cast came out to play and lead the audience in singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
Parker is proud of what his students are accomplishing. He said, "The level of talent here is really awesome. There's so much to work with, and so much to build on, that I'm so excited about the future of the arts program here. There's just so many positive things happening in our school system and at this school with the arts. I'm super excited about it."
He expressed gratefulness to Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette and West Point High School Principal Heath Yearwood for their support, and had to get in a last word about the "state of the union" in his program.
Parker concluded, "We are very excited about the arts department at West Point! We now offer dance, visual art, instrumental music, vocal music and drama/theater at West Point school. It is a fun and exciting time to be a Warrior!"
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