By Gabriella DePinho
IHA NEWS EDITOR

At 7 p.m. on December 11th, the Performing Arts Center was packed with parents, family members and friends, all in attendance at the annual Christmas Concert put together by the music department led by Mrs. Maureen Buscareno.

This concert was Mrs. Buscereno’s first concert here at IHA as a teacher. Mrs. Buscareno was a former Blue Eagle herself and was excited to be back at IHA working with the students.

The show opened with a performance from the handbell choir accompanied by a flutist and a harpist. The show then went in between the different music ensembles including Voices, Orchestra, Rock Band and the special guests for the evening–an ensemble of harpists from the Cicely Tyson School of Performing Arts.

The show featured solos and duets from different musicians on different instruments. Freshman Catherine Petretti performed a solo on the clarinet and also performed a duet with classmate, Katherine Kudlacik. Sophomore Kathleen Martin performed a solo on the harp. Laura Giambastrani and Dominique Restivo, both juniors, performed their own arrangement of ‘Blue Christmas’. Juniors, Adelaine Zuks and Katianne Dunay wrote and performed a song titled ‘Winter’s Light’ along with classmates Kyra Campos-Marquetti and Ashley Cha.

The show also featured other art forms besides music. Outside in the lobby, photographs taken by students at IHA were hanging, and artwork was displayed in the show cases. Four girls, Gianna Cheeseman, Ainé Tucker, Lauren Walsh, and Mary Carolan, performed traditional Irish Step-dancing and blew the audience away with their skill and speed.

Special thanks to Mrs. Buscereno for organizing an amazing show and Mrs. Encke and her art students for providing the displayed artwork.