Monacan High School - Legend Yearbook (Richmond, VA)

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Accompanying the Messiah choir Shie-Ping Lui Fruitcake! A group of homemakers from Chamber and Randa Vegas join in a chorus of the ‘‘Hallelujah Ensemble instruct the audience on how to make a Chorus.” Christmas fruitcake. Hard work paid off! During the performance of the Concentrating on the music Phil Aydlotte and Messiah the choir realizes the effort that went into Chris Gongaware perform during the Christmas con- this musical. cert. 16 Chorus Orchestra

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Marching The second full season proved to be a successful one for the Monacan Marching Chiefs. The field show performed by the band last year was custom designed by a member of the VCU Music Department, and the band worked very hard every day after school to perfect their program. Their efforts were rewarded in the Sec- ond Cary Band Day and when they re- ceived a superior rating at the District Ill Band Festival. At five in the morning on November 8, 1980, the members of the marching chiefs met at the Midlothian K-Mart. A fter travel- Beat of a different drumer. Kraig Negaard and the Symphonic percussion section add zest to the win- ter concert. in Style ing four hours to get to the town of Cary, North Carolina, the band immediately started preparing for the opening parade. After the three mile parade was over the students had a four hour break until the field show and received a superior rating ending the first major performance of the band in their new uniforms. The big news of the season for the marching band was the arrival of the uni- form in late October. The uniform style was so popular that the maker (DeMorlin Brothers) decided to use it as a model uniform in their catelogue. Salute to Groucho. The big brass, Bob Jennings, Tommy Bohlman, Liem Le, and Chip Hancock, add humor to the field show in the song, ‘‘King Herod.” Band Marching Band 15

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Spirit of Christmas On the evening of December 10, the Monacan Combined Choir, under the di- rection of Mr. Dwight Graham, presented Handel’s Messiah in the Theatre of the Performing Arts. Handel’s composition, a succession of songs retelling the story of Christ’s birth, was sung so beautifully that it moved some to tears and prompted oth- ers to stand in respect for the singing of the ‘‘Hallelujah Chorus.” The performance was enhanced by the accompaniment of a professional orches- tra which included three Monacan stu- dents: Alan Gillie, Chris Gongaware, and Randa Vegas. This musical was chosen, according to choir members, to let the members of the chorus experience other types of music that young people of today do not often come in contact with. Susan Mariner and Sheryl King both commented, “‘It was a challenge for every member of the choir to work on — something to test our capa- bilities with.’’ Many hours of grueling practice went Halelujah! Cindy Gallop practices hard for the most famous piece from the Messiah, the ‘‘Halelujah Chorus’”’. into their performance. Along with prac- tice each day, many hours at home and on weekends were spent in rehearsal. Four students who even had more of a work load were the sololists: Amy McGonigle, Kurt Negaard, Lucinda Olofson, and Wes- ley Tharpe. Along with the students, many self-sacrificing parents donated their time to fund raising. Without the dona- tions received, the orchestral accompa- niment would not have been possible. Everyone’s hard work payed off with an overwhelmingly wonderful reception Ver- bal compliments were augmented by flowers and many congratulatory cards after the performance. All Monacan students had the good for- tune to see part of this special concert when it was performed for the entire stu- dent body prior to Christmas vacation. It was extremely appropriate because it re- minded all those present of the true spirit of Christmas and the birth of one small child. | me TS RO SATS WOE ARETE SS PEE SR oe SD Ah one, two, three, four Mr. Dwight Graham directs the orchestra and the combined choir on a piece from the Messiah. Chorus Orchestra 17