Watsessing Elementary hosts annual winter concert

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BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Watsessing Elementary School brought holiday cheer to an audience of family and friends with its annual winter concert Friday, Dec. 13.

The curtain went up with the sixth-grade band, under the baton of Jeff Dieterle, performing “Winterscape” and “Deck the Halls,” followed by the sixth-grade orchestra playing “Jingle Bells” and “Jolly Old St. Nicholas.”

Singing came next with first-, second- and fifth-graders, under the direction of vocal and choir director Kimberly Chimento, providing traditional songs including “Sleigh Ride,” “Mele Kalikimaka” and “Here Comes the Snow.”

The Watsessing Chorale, a group started by Chimento, sang a trio of selections highlighted by the arrangement “Christmas at the Movies.” The grand finale brought together all performers for a singalong.

Following the show, Chimento said the concert was one of the first times her fifth- and sixth-grade chorale singers had performed together. Dieterle said the difficulty level of the compositions his students played had been raised for the winter concert, adding that every pupil in the school has the opportunity to play an instrument: violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, alto sax, trumpet or trombone.