Many people who celebrate the holiday season have special festive ways to get into the holiday spirit. For Massapequa students and alumni, many like to join together to sing festive songs to celebrate the joyful season.

On December 20, 2018, the Baldwin Auditorium was host to Massapequa High School’s annual Alumni Concert, where students of yesteryear and beyond came together with current MHS students to spread holiday cheer.

The concert started with the girls choir performing amazing renditions of the “Sussex Carol,” “Celebration of Light,” “All is Calm,” “Sleep in Peace,” and Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit “All I Want for Christmas is You.”  

The show then continued with songs from the school’s orchestra. To kick off their performance they led off with “Sarajevo,” which included an outstanding performance on the electric guitar from junior Mario Mannarino. More great songs followed afterwards as they performed a remake of “Christmas Festival” by the late Leroy Anderson.

The concert shifted back to the full choir afterwards as they performed “Carol of the Bells,” “Light the Candles,” “Sicut locutus est,” “Candlelight Carol,” and “Thixo Onothando” (Loving God as translated from the Xhosa language). This was then followed by the orchestra performance of  “Sleigh Ride” before the choir and orchestra combined to perform four songs, including “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “Hanukkah Festival Overture,” “O Holy Night” and “Hallelujah Chorus” twice.

“Hallelujah Chorus” holds a special place for both current and past MHS students, as alumni are welcomed to the stage the second time the song is played to perform alongside students.

It was amazing to see how many alumni come on to the stage and join in with the chorus and orchestra. It was similar to a high school reunion, only that the guests attending were of different ages. Some came up with their own instruments, such as the clarinet and the violin. Others came up with just their voices. The “Hallelujah Chorus,” both the first time and second time, was a treat to listen to.  

Growing in size every year, the alumni on stage are a constant reminder of the school’s long history and that the MHS family extends beyond those just currently in the building, making the community truly feel like one big family.  

All the hard work that the music students have been doing for months to make this concert as successful as possible definitely paid off in a great way. It isn’t just the students that helped, either. The organizers for the event and the music department played great roles in making this as successful and joyful as possible.

Thanks to their efforts year after year, Massapequa High School’s Alumni Concert is still going incredibly strong. The performance was a great way to unite residents of Massapequa and Massapequa Park together, and it is certainly something that the local community will continue to appreciate for years to come.