Senior Michael Sixsmith singing “Sing We Noel” with the choir tonight. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Lynn U. Miller for WestportNow.com
By Lynn U. Miller
There was a noticeable somber mood tonight in Westport’s Staples High School auditorium at the start of the 72nd annual Candlelight Concert.
The audience members talked among themselves as they gathered in their seats before the concert. Friends greeted each other as they always do at Candlelight.
But tonight was different.
People spoke of today’s tragic events in Newtown, sadly shaking their heads and holding their friends and family members a bit closer.
Tonight was different as David Winer, K-12 supervisor of music, dispensed with his traditional welcome to the audience.
In years past, he would offer a few comments about our wonderful students and close with a plea for everyone to turn off their cell phones.
But tonight was different.
Standing in front of the the crowd and speaking without a mike, he turned the the welcoming duties over to Staples Principal John Dodig.
He told the crowd that he and Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon had met earlier and discussed the possible cancellation of tonight’s concert.
However, Dodig said that they came to the conclusion that the concert should go on as scheduled, that ” this is the place to be—with the kids that we love.”
He then asked the audience members to “take a moment to think about the parents who will not be able to hug their children tonight.”
The auditorium was silent, for a minute.
And then the sound of the music filled the room as the Symphonic Orchestra began to play. First was “Chorale Prelude: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” (J.S. Bach arranged by Ormandy).
Next came the traditional processional as the 2012 A Cappella Choir entered wearing their blue choir robes, holding their candles and singing “Sing We Noel” (French Carol 16th Century/arr .Gaul), just as so many classes before them have done.
So tonight was different.
But as Staples High School presented its 72nd Candlelight Concert, in one small way, it was also the same.
