Hey everybody. Good to see you. Thanks for having us. Um I appreciate the kind introduction. Melissa and Al, thanks so much for that. We are the Tartan High School Concert Choir. We're excited to be with you for I think it's the 25th year. A long a long tradition going. Our concert theme this season is the Ark of Life. So, we've got a set of songs that reflect the human journey and the human experience from birth, growth, development, adulthood, later years, and then all the way to till death. And really what that experience is like, our shared um experiences as humans, the challenges and obstacles we overcome, all those things. So, we'll give you a sampling from that concert set. We also have some traditional Christmas holiday tunes that we'll share with you as well. So you'll get a little sampling from both today. Our first song is called White Winter Himnel. One, two, ready, go. I was following the I was following the I was following the I was following the I was following the I was following the I was following the I was following the I was following the pack all swallowed in their coats with scars of red tied around their coats to keep their little heads from falling in the snow. And I turned round and there you go. And Michael, you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime. Ooh. Ooh. Oo, I was following the pack all swallowed in their coats with scars of red tied around their throats to keep their little heads from falling in the snow. And I turn around and there you go. And Michael, you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in a summer. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. I was following the pack all swed in their coats with scars of red tied around their throats to keep their little heads from falling in the snow. And I turned around and there you go. And Michael, you would fall and turn the white snow red and strawberries in the summer time. Our next song I have a a personal connection with and I encourage all of our students to do the same thing with all the music we're singing to find meaning in the text so they can be genuine performers. And it's really part of our experience here as artists to be human, right? Art is a truly human experience. So this song is called Show Us How to Love. And I told them a lot about how when I was a younger man, I was a little bit of a rebel and I didn't do what my parents wanted me to do. Um, and they didn't want me to direct choirs. They said, "Don't do that. Don't do it." But I did anyway. And I'm I'm happy I did. Um, it's been really a fun journey. I I love the job I have. I really love working with these students, these fine humans up here on stage. And recently, I got a card in the mail from my mom and it said, "I'm so proud of you. nice job on that award. So, that really pulled at my heartstrings and it was just kind of a nice a nice uh story because, you know, as I grew and matured, I discovered a lot of things my parents said were actually quite wise. But I was learning how to love them with grace and I think they were kind of doing the same thing. So, um we can all find a way to connect to text and poetry we were singing. We have a soloist who's doing a great job. Her name's Baraka and this is Show Us How to Love. Hearts open mind away. Change us now for heaven's s and leave us not alone in hatred way. Show us how to love. Show us how to love. Show us how. Show us how to heart open. souls away. Rules we made we now must break with our very own lives at stake. We must learn to love. We must learn to love. We must learn. We must learn to love. Oh, eyes open, shocked away. Much to learn from our mistakes. Draw us closer in our heartache. Show us how to love. Show us how to love. Show us how. Show us how to love. Show us how to love. Show us how to love. Show us how. Show us how to love. soloist. There's our soloist. One more round for our bell. Sweet silver bells all seem to say throw away Christmas ding dong to hear of the cheer from everywhere while people sing songs of good cheer. Christmas is here. Ding dong ding dong ding dong here. Oh cheer from everywhere. They're ringing out while people sing songs of a cheer. Christmas is here. Ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong. the walls with la or day of La the ancient you'll die carol la pass away the old year passes la the new ye and lastes la sing we joyous all together La heless of the wind and weather. We've got one more Christmas song for you. This is called Jingle Bells. And we usually would encircle the audience at the old venue, but it'll be a little tricky here. So, I don't know. We'll just sing it up here. We You know, we improvise sometimes, right? Hey, um we invite you to sing along. I bet most of you know the words. So, spread some of that holiday holiday cheer and sing Jingle Bells with us if you would. Thank you. through the snow. Over the fields we go, laughing all the way. Bells on ring, making spirits bright. What fun it is to ride and sing a slayighing song tonight. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. A day or two ago, I thought I'd take a ride. And soon, Miss Daddy Bride was seated by my side. The horse was lean and lame. Misfortune seemed as lost. He got into a jingle. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sle. >> All right. Nice job. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber Choir of Commerce. My goodness. >> You guys want one more? >> All right. >> Oh, well, thank you. Uh before we before we give you one more one more selection, a quick thank you to Rocco's Pizza who's feeding our fine tartan students since they missed lunch. Let's hear it for Rocco. Thank you. And uh thank you to Eric, your president, for the invite and making this event happen. We really appreciate you, sir. Thank you so much. >> This final piece is called Octus. It's in Latin. And I'll just read you the translation since this speaks volumes about my little speech earlier regarding connecting to the text and the poetry and how that can truly make us artists and what we share here in this choir in our classroom is really the deepest level of human experience. Creating something beautiful and profound that you can't do on your own. These students are singing four, five, six part harmony. Sometimes you can't do that as one. So it's it's the collective whole coming together to create something of beauty. And we really need that. We need that in our world. And these kids share in making beautiful things every day. And that's really inspiring to me. The translation is the impediment to action advances action. That which blocks the way becomes the way. Driven through the difficulties, advanced through difficulties. We will sing for you. Octus. Oh, we choose strong from toes or heart The processes for us are of it. Oh sh to all to Just be progress. There are you strong stars. Say, let's hear it for our fabulous accompanist, Mr. Luke. And if you would, one more round of applause for these fine students. The fantastic choir. Thanks again everybody. We appreciate it and we wish you a very merry Christmas, happy holidays and a happy new year. Thank you.