One City One Sound Filled Michigan City With Notes of Holiday Cheer

 Photos from the One City One Sound Concert can be seen here!

Oh, the weather outside was frightful, but the sounds inside were so delightful, as the capacity crowd was treated to the melodious and harmonic voices and instruments of nearly 1,200 students from the Michigan City Area Schools. The One City One Sound concert on Thursday evening at the Michigan City High School gymnasium was a true sensory delight, as students spanning elementary through high school, performed 14 holiday pieces. Serving as emcee for the evening, Xavier Botana, Associate Superintendent of the Michigan City Area Schools, welcomed the crowd to the festive event.

"Seeing all these families here enjoying their children's performance is truly a highlight. These students are always outstanding and it's thrilling to see the family support. It's a wonderful family opportunity and it's great for the community," he said.

To begin the evening, the musical artists, both vocal and instrumental, joined in collaboration for the opening number of "It's The Holiday Season" to kick off the 2nd largest event of the year for the school system.

"It works like clockwork and is a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season," Betsy Kohn, Director of Communications at MCAS said.

The event is held in the high school gymnasium because no other venue can accommodate such a large number of performers. Dress rehearsal was held during the day prior to the event, and was timed so all performers could be there during one half hour to rehearse opening and closing numbers.

"Many people are working behind the scenes. Music teachers coordinating everything, tech staff setting up sound equipment, custodial staff bringing in and preparing equipment, chairs and risers, food service feeding students at rehearsal, transportation busing students from 10 different schools for rehearsal, JROTC and the Michigan City Police Department handling traffic and crowd control, and parent volunteers ushering and chaperoning," Kohn said

Throughout the evening, heads were nodding and toes were tapping as folks who weren't singing along kept time with the beautiful music that filled the air quickly bringing back the Christmas spirit. Nicholas, a 5th grader from Springfield Elementary, who's favorite song was Winter Fantasy.

He couldn't pick just one event as his highlight of the evening, and shared, "I liked everything!"

"It's a fun event," Anissa Woolslayer, President of the Michigan City Area Schools Music Boosters shared. "I love watching these kids perform."

Each year, the event always holds a charitable element, and this year was no different. Although admission for the event was free, attendees were encouraged to bring can goods and non-perishable items to benefit the Salvation Army. The recognizable "red kettles" and "bell ringers" were also available for those wishing to make cash donations.

Martha Swanson, whose daughter Kennedy performed with the City Singers, found her favorite song to be the Various Themes on "Fa-La-La".

Veronica Martin was proud of her two musician daughters, both trumpet players, who have played since 5th grade and said, "The highlight for me was sitting in the stands listening to them play and remembering the time when they first began and proud of the progress they both have made."

During the middle school chorus's performance of "S.A.N.T.A.", the crowd cheered as Santa's helpers and elves appeared, and proceeded to show off their dance moves during the song.

Cadet Captain Cody Joseph, Commanding Officer of the Michigan City High School JROTC, was pleased to be a part of the event.

"We're happy to be here helping in any way we can," Joseph said.

To close the show, the musical artists once again joined forces to perform "Christmas Finale". At the conclusion of the final performance, cheers and thunderous applause resonated the gymnasium as young and old alike expressed their approval of the fantastic evening of beautiful music!