Sandy Hook Elementary School students on risers stood prepared to present their winter chorus program to the school on January 11.

Newtown music educator Cynthia Holberg was putting finishing touches to the sound design of the cafetorium as the students stood ready.

“They’re really enthusiastic about singing and performing,” Holberg said about her students, adding that she was excited to be directing on the SHS stage for the first time.

Jim Allen, accompanying the chorus on mandolin, began to warm up, which brought smiles to the SHS Chorus. Children sat crisscrossed below waiting for the show to start to entrance music from Allen and Jonathon Pope on piano.

Each piece was introduced by different members of the SHS chorus along with historical context, notes about the composition, or with a poetic sentiment. “Circle ‘Round the Moon,” was described tenderly by a pair of students as “bring[ing] about an urging within us for the beauty that lies beyond what we can see.” The piece transported the audience into a calm and quiet wintery scene.

The cheerful licks Allen was playing before belonged to “The Fox,” an old English folk song arranged for the chorus with upbeat, incorporated dance movements.

Next, in a twist, Holberg herself played the overture of a “body percussion” piece with temple blocks. Students then snapped, stomped, and clapped, expressing the same tones and rhythms of the piece and projecting it to a thunderous scale.

The performance also included “The Armed Forces Medley” containing the official songs from each branch of the military.

The concert attended by SHS parents and family members was held the next evening, on January 12 at 7 pm.

Reporter Noelle Veillette can be reached at noelle@thebee.com.