On a snowy winter evening, this past Tuesday, parents and other Wrangellites sat on the high school auditorium bleachers waiting for middle and high school students to perform their Winter Concert. Both the music and the weather made it seem appropriate for the holiday season.
Before the middle schoolers picked up their brass and other instruments, music teacher Tasha Morse thanked the audience for showing up and risking the wintry roads.
“When I put ‘Winter Concert’ on the program, I didn’t anticipate it to actually become winter all of a sudden,” she said.
Soon after, they started the concert with ‘Up on the Housetop’. The horns blare through the auditorium while the drum keeps the beat.
As they’re warming up for the rest of the songs, puddles formed under some of the audience members’ boots, including my own.
The concert was split between three bands – sixth to eighth grade, ninth through twelfth, the high school jazz band – and the choir that consists of all grades.
The high school band played three songs, including Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’, where a percussionist quickly and rhythmically shakes a jingle stick to help form the upbeat song.
Soon after, the high school jazz band performs. There’s only five members in the band, but music teacher Tasha Morse had to fill in for the trumpet who was sick. They performed four songs, including Frank Loesser’s ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ from 1944. Many musicians took on the song later, including Dean Martin and Louis Armstrong.
The bass guitar’s deep notes add character to the duet between the saxophone and trumpet.
From left: Wrangell Middle School Band, Wrangell High School Band and the High School Jazz Band perform at the Winter Concert on Dec. 9, 2025. (Colette Czarnecki/KSTK)
Freshman Natalie Smith is in the choir, who were the last to perform. She said she loved watching the bands and she looks forward to this concert every year.
“I like watching the band groups, because I don’t play any instruments,” she said. “I think it’s cool to see how it all comes together and how it turns out, and the community loves it.”
She said her favorite song the group sings is the popular Christmas carol, Carol of the Bells. She sings alto.
The repetitive melodic song resembles bells, bringing a tune that surrounded the audience.
Her sister, sixth grader soprano Sophie Andrews, had more of a critique, but it seems like everything, for the most part, was fine with her.
“I think we did really good, except for some of the notes we couldn’t hit very well,” she said. “But other than that, I think we did amazing.”
Another vocalist for the choir is sixth grader Radley Powers. He’s also the middle school band percussionist. He said he feels good about how the concert turned out.
Powers said, “I feel like tonight we did really well because we’ve been working pretty hard to accomplish this concert.”
He said as for the choir, some people forgot to sing their part, but that’s ok because they kept going. Afterall, Tasha Morse, the music teacher, said it was challenging getting everyone together during practice, since many students travel for sports.
“I haven’t had a full group together since like today, hardly at all,” she said. “Our band of 20 people, at one point I think I had like five kids in the class, and I was like, “Well, we’re gonna still rehearse and do what we can do.”
She said all three bands and the choir started practicing in September and they all gave it their best on Tuesday.
