A Warm Winter Night took place on Tuesday, Devenber 11, 2007

Although students sold pre-purchased tickets, over 70 tickets were sold at the door alone. The parking was extended to the second parking lot, directly on the other side of the library, due to the amount of cars parked and the audience filled more than half the house.

“I was so surprised on how many people showed up for this concert, especially because of the cold weather,” said the ticket consultant, Jane Murdock, also the proud parent of Brian Murdock, one of two concert masters.

The Pioneer Middle School’s advanced orchestra, which consisted only of 14 students, opened for the Combined High School Orchestra. They performed more of the classical chorale songs one hears during Christmas. Such as: “Jingle Bells,” by J. Offenbach, “Ode to Joy,” by K. Fischburn, and St. “Anthony’s Chorale,” by F.J. Haydn.

The middle schools performance was fantastic, but the 14 student orchestra only created a small ripple compared to the wave of sharp and warming sound, created by 59 high school students’ combined orchestra. 

Michael Allard started the performance by introducing the two concert masters, Granite Hills’, Michael Smith, as well as Strathmore High’s Murdock. It wasn’t long before the two led the orchestra to paint a picture with the soothing sounds of strings for the audience.

They played more classical and timeless music created for plays and other symphonies. MPGs began with “Overture from Russian and Ludmilla” by M. Glinka and R. Sieving, which is drawn largely form Russian folk music. They also preformed “Waltz” by J. Strauss and M. Isaac.

For their second to last song they rearranged their chairs creating a powerhouse directly in the middle of the stage. “Canon” by J. Pachelbel was written in 1680 and has become timeless. It was originally written as a piece of chamber music for three violins and bass continuo, but since then has been adjusted for more instruments.

”There bodied worked as one like tides of an ocean; compelling all living things to go with the flow," Jonathan Aparicio later expressed after the concert.

 Then to finish off this festive evening Porterville’s Combined High School Orchestra ended the night with a holiday favorite “White Christmas.” The crowd rose out of their seats and cheered for and encore. Dr. Allard later recalled that it had been some years since the last time he received an encore.

The night was filled with more words then were spoken. The orchestra had brought the whole audience together as one.