Welcome to that time of the year again, Merry Christmas everyone! This year’s choir concert is going to be huge! Ms. Baldino, Mr. Zander, and Mr. Goff are holding for the first time the Yuletide at Mountainside event. All three departments are coming together to form an amazing and unique concert for all of the community to come and see for the holidays. 

Ms. Baldino, the choir director here at Mountainside, is one of the hard-working directors for the Yuletide at Mountainside event. Alongside Ms. Baldino is Mr. Goff the theatre director and Mr. Zander the band director. Yuletide at Mountainside was at first a concept that was first thought of by Mr. Zander last spring, who got the idea from one of his colleagues in West Salem who did a similar event around the holidays. He saw how the event took off, and after Mr. Zander showcased the idea they made the plan to model the idea after his colleague’s show. 

All of the departments’ came up with one goal for the show; to reach out to the community and bring joy to them. “Being apart of something bigger than yourself is one of the really special things of being in a performance ensemble.” I interviewed Ms. Baldino to get some insight into this huge event and trust me if you weren’t already intrigued you will be now.

Ms. Baldino has never done anything as collaborative as Yuletide at Mountainside. She has many things planned for this holiday season, both behind the scenes and on stage. She is very excited to have a “high caliber” show that her choir members can be apart of. She also wants this to be something that the community expects or is excited for each year. She went into this event with a lot of excitement, “It feels like a real creation amongst the performing arts department.” 

The show is variety, meaning everything in the show is either moving very quickly or slowly. This will inspire a rollercoaster of emotions within the audience with every piece bringing a new reaction. It will be showcasing marimba, woodwinds, larger instrumental ensembles, solos, and more! “We want to take them on a winter holiday musical journey that is sophisticated but also fun as well. ” Some showpieces that they will showcase are comedy pieces, instrumental pieces, vocal pieces, and for the first time a musical theater piece. Some songs that are being featured are, “Winter Wonderland”, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, “A Newborn Child”, and “Hallelujah”.

Rebecca Maritino, a choir student, is a part of the Yuletide at Mountainside event. Rebecca is very excited about this event, “We have a lot of cool different acts being performed.” She says that they have been working on this event since their last concert. For Rebecca, this is her first time doing this type of event before, she feels that this is a great opportunity to see the community come out to see this event, “ I think it is cool that we are getting a chance to do something that the community can come to.” 

Emmi Scaturo, another choir student, is also a part of the Yuletide at Mountainside event. Emmi is very excited for this event, as this is her first time doing this type of event as well, “ This is the first time I have ever performed twice and this is the first time I have ever performed with a wind ensemble.” She is glad to see that the performing arts department is coming together with a show that is welcoming to the community. “It is going to be a lot of fun and being able to give out the community during the holidays will most definitely bring joy to everyone who comes.”

Yuletide at Mountainside is coming to Mountainside for two days only: December 17th and 18th at 7:00 pm. You can buy tickets online for both premium and regular seating. Regular seating online is 10 dollars, and online premium seating is 15 dollars. At the door, prices go up by 5 dollars. You can get tickets online till 5:00 pm on the night of the first show.  

Yuletide at Mountainside is going to be a huge step for the performing arts department. This event will put Mountainside’s performing arts departments more on the map. “It is a huge step in Mountainside’s choir because we are doing a song altogether which we have never really done before.” Yuletide at Mountainside is a wonderful holiday event that everyone must-see, both students at Mountainside and everyone in the Beaverton community!