By Kira Walters, News Editor
The chorus and band have been known to perform exceptionally at school events and out-of-school events. They have been annually performing around the community all throughout the year, but the holiday season brings about some special performances. The chorus continued its annual tradition of caroling in Duck at the Yuletide Celebration on Dec. 3.
“We carol the shops around Duck and then we end up in the town park and we greet Santa Claus with a little musical song there. We’ve been doing that for years,” chorus and orchestra director John Buford said. “It’s a lot of fun and we try to dress up in our holiday gear and see who has the craziest festive attire, which is a fun thing to do.”
But that is not the only performance for students in the community. There were a number of performances all over the Outer Banks.
The chorus, along with the First Flight Elementary School and First Flight Middle School choruses, sang at the Kill Devil Hills Holiday Market at Aviation Park in early December.
“We’ve never done this before, so it’s kind of exciting,” Buford said. “We are also going to continue our annual tradition of singing around the neighborhood.”
After performing for the community in the annual winter concert on Wednesday, Dec. 15, the chorus then gets to enjoy its annual caroling around the neighborhood.
“We are going to go visit Spring Arbor and sing for them and then we’ll stop by and try to sing for the middle school and the elementary school,” Buford said.
The First Flight choir has been a huge part of the community for quite some time. The caroling at Spring Arbor is an amazing experience for both the people in the choir and the people at Spring Arbor.
“It means a lot when we go to Spring Arbor and carol for them. Music has such a profound effect on people and sometimes you react so purely to music that it’s almost like it takes your burdens away for a second into the joy of the music and you kind of cast your cares away,” Buford said. “It is pretty clear how much the people at Spring Arbor enjoy the music. Even during COVID, we sang to them outside and they gathered on the porch and out the window. Even when no one was allowed to visit them, we tried to find a way to keep that tradition going.”
Caroling at Spring Arbor, among other performances, influences the people in chorus as well as the people getting the joy of listening to them.
“I think it brings a lot of serotonin to people and it brings joy to people to hear new music and hear the old music everyone loves,” chorus and orchestra student Jasmine Lewis said.
But the chorus wasn’t the only fine arts department performing around the community this month. The pep band kicked off its season with a performance the opening night of the Good Guys vs. Cancer basketball tournament. The jazz band also performed again this year at the Wright Brothers memorial during the annual celebration of the first flight. And Christmas spirit was on full display when the marching band walked the Manteo Christmas parade. The stage band, concert band and jazz band will hold their annual winter concert on Thursday, Dec. 16. The band does many things to help the Outer Banks as a whole.
“We have helped raise money for charitable organizations and it is quality entertainment for people who are looking for something inexpensive to go see and our kids tend to be pretty good citizens,” band director Bob Ebert said. “They help out and they are just genuinely good people because of the program.”
The benefits of the chorus, band and orchestra performances are undeniably significant. They help many people just by bringing a little happiness into their lives.
“I enjoy the family vibe of it. It’s lots of fun and also you can always create good memories from the classes and the performances,” Lewis said.
Junior Kira Walters can be reached at 24walterski77@daretolearn.org.
