Byram Intermediate hosts annual holiday concerts

Stanhope - The Byram Concert Band will perform its annual holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13 in the all-purpose room of the Byram Intermediate School. The band will be conducted by Edward D. Cooke, who is also president of the Sussex County Honors Band and Chorus that performed Nov. 17 at Wallkill Regional High School. The Byram Concert Band consists of students in grades five through eight. This group of over 90 musicians will devote the evening to the instrumental sounds of the season, including “The Christmas Song,” “Hanukkah Holiday” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Other classics will include “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson and John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” A special piece, “Simple Gifts,” will invite audience members on to the stage to perform with the band in celebration of Cooke’s silver anniversary in the Byram school district. The Byram Intermediate School presented its Annual Chorus Concert, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, under the direction of Roseann Iuvone, choral director. Choral groups that performed were the fifth- and sixth-grade chorus, the seventh-grade chorus, the eighth-grade chorus, and the Byram concert choir. The fifth- and sixth grade chorus performed holiday favorites, including “March of the Wooden Soldiers” and “We Three Kings.” The seventh-grade chorus sang the perennial favorite, “White Christmas,” as well as the traditional spiritual, “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” The eighth-grade chorus performed the popular “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and “The Little Drummer Boy.” The Byram concert chorus sang a collection of holiday music, including “I Saw Three Ships,” “Gesu Bambino” and “Carol of the Bells.” Several students performed outstanding solos.