For the first time in school history, Northwood’s Winterfest holiday choir concert on Nov. 21 featured two student emcees: seniors Ronith Anand and Jane Wang, co-presidents of the Northwood Choral Program.

Throughout the night, the emcees introduced each of the six Northwood ensembles with a short remark, adding in personal connections from their past four years in the choral program.

“Getting to introduce the choirs was definitely a lot of pressure, but it felt good to be able to represent a community that I am so proud to be a part of,” Anand said. “I think the teamwork between me and Jane really allowed for the success of our last concert as we tried to create a welcoming, vibrant environment in the choir.”

After returning to Northwood’s choir program last year, choral director Tyler Alessi has collaborated with the new choir co-presidents to cultivate a student-driven environment.

“I want to make sure students are feeling more involved and feel like a part of this program,” Alessi said. “Having these student emcees in this concert added that personal touch to any students that were in the audience, that choir is really a welcoming student community.”

To add a bit of jolly to the holiday season, “The Monotone Angel” featured a humorous solo performed by sophomore Moksha Mettu. While the part was written to be a funny bit, making the minor character a soloist feature was an addition to the piece carried on since the previous choir director, Zach Halop.

The concert also featured performances from the elementary school vocal program. Culverdale, Canyon View, Brywood, College Park and Eastwood Elementary, under the direction of vocal music teacher Ryan Koo, joined the Northwood choir for the first song of the night, “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Greg Gilpin, that featured a special kazoo part. They also performed Jeff Funk’s “Winter Wonderland” and Roger Emerson’s “I Love You.”

“My favorite part was when a group of kids came up to me after the concert and said they also wanted to be an emcee when they come to Northwood,” Wang said. “Having these kids come and experience the choir community in high school was probably a unique experience for them.”

The co-presidents are continuing to brainstorm ideas for the choral progam, such as planning pizza lunches and creating an all student-run concert in the spring.

For anyone who missed Winterfest, catch these two co-emcees in the spring concert and the Pops Concert in the spring semester.