As the first semester of the school year comes to an end, why not celebrate it with a wonderful assembly in the PAC? The Winter Pops Assembly happens annually and is a special assembly for the entire student body here at AHS. It gets students excited for Winter Break and in the holiday spirit before finishing up finals in the following week. Everyone enjoys performances from many different performing arts groups on campus and share laughs with friends around them. It is unique from other yearly assemblies because instead of taking place in the North Gym, the assembly takes place in the PAC. Here is a bit of background and insight on a few of the performances!

Each year, Orchesis Dance Company performs one of their routines at the Pops Assembly. The Company’s upbeat dance moves and high energy gets the audience pumped up. Orchesis officer senior Scarlet Yang describes, “This year, Orchesis performed a holiday routine choreographed by all the officers: Scarlet Yang, Jenny Namkoong, Talia Yip, Ella Hokanson, Madison Estevez, and Elaine Zhou. The routine was a jazz-based piece and we hoped that it would spread the holiday cheer to our audience. We were really excited to perform for our peers and we had an amazing time!” The entire Company did a wonderful job overall and each of their movements was on point. 

Chanteurs also performs a few pieces each year at the assembly. This year, they sang beautifully and truly captivated their audience. Each singer was enthusiastic and each song was fun to watch and move along to. Chanteurs officer senior Amy Brockman describes, “We did a variety of holiday pieces that ranged from slow classical accompanied by the piano to jazzy pop. I think our set satisfied the audience and got them hyped up for the holidays.” Thank you for the amazing performance, Chanteurs! 

Lastly, Orchestra also performs a few holiday-inspired pieces at the assembly. Senior Joceline Nguyen reflects on Orchestra 3’s performance, “We played Winter by Vivaldi, all 4 movements of St. Paul’s Suite by Gustav Holst, O Holy Night, and Christmas Festival. Winter was played by a smaller portion of our orchestra to fit the baroque style while St. Paul’s was played by the entire orchestra. I especially liked O Holy Night and Christmas Festival because we performed it with band and choir!” All the pieces performed by Orchestra 3 were outstanding and got the audience more relaxed. 

The Pops Assembly this year was an absolute success. Performing Arts groups at AHS were able to showcase their talents in singing, dancing, and instruments. Happy Holidays Apaches!

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Photo Courtesy of ARCADIA MUSIC DEPARTMENT