Eagle Era

The school band and choir performed winter-themed songs at the Winter Concert after months of preparation 

By Lisa Shokoor

On Thursday, December 11th, 2025, the AHS band and choir performed their annual winter concert to showcase the skills they acquired throughout the semester. After months of hard work and dedication, the musicians at AHS put on a show for their family and friends to see.

Band director Mr. Wong described the process of preparing for the winter concert. “I give performance tests to have them work on the music before the concert, so I can hear what they’re doing and what their progress is like,” he said. “The process takes days, weeks, months of everyone working together so that we can start working on the selections and then come together.”

One of Mr. Wong’s main goals for this year is to encourage students to play with emotion rather than play robotically. He said, “The big thing I focus on is performing expressively, whether that’s singing or playing instruments. Sometimes, if students look at the music, they’ll see the notes and rhythms. They perform it, and it will sound like an exercise, but what we really want is to have the music fly off the paper.”

He also elaborated on the importance of the winter concert for underclassmen. Mr. Wong said, “The winter concert is the first concert for a bunch of people; it might be the first high school concert if they’ve been in the middle school performance setting. It’s their first experience here at American, and then by the spring, they have developed a lot more musically.”

Claire Fan (11) described going into one of her last winter concerts. “It’s bittersweet. I have had a lot of good memories with my peers and friends over the years.” She continued, “I’m more excited now because I’m in 11th grade, and a lot of time has passed, so I’m more confident in my skills as a performer.”

The Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble performed their first song, “In Flight” (Photo Credit: Lisa Shokoor (11)).

Jonas Yang (9) shared how Mr. Wong’s teaching helped prepare him for the winter concert and grow as a musician. He said, “Mr. Wong has taught me a bunch of things I didn’t know about before, like how to perform with emotion.”

Yang worked hard throughout the month trying to perfect his skills for the concert. He said, “I’ve been really trying to lock in and practice—to pretend that I’m performing when I’m practicing.”

Yang emphasized the importance of the winter concert and how it reaches people. He said, “The purpose of a winter concert is to show everyone what you’ve been doing—to show them your progress, your growth as a person—because that’s something that you can’t express with words honestly.”

There were many people in the crowd watching their loved ones perform. Alexandra Castillo was supporting her cousin, who was playing in the winter concert. 

The choir lined up to sing their first song, “Somewhere Out There” (Photo Credit: Lisa Shokoor (11)).

Castillo explained, “It’s nice to hear the students play popular songs we recognize and just to gather with people during the holidays, especially during the wintertime. It’s very nostalgic, and it brings it back to when you’re a kid with all the classic holiday music and the songs we all know.”

As Mr. Wong said, “The winter concert is for us to share our music with the audience, but it’s also for parents and family to see. Art is an expression of yourself in various ways. Whether it’s ceramics, architecture, photography, or other visual arts, all of these things allow students to express themselves in ways that cannot be done in other settings.