The annual Constellation Concert brings all musicians at North together for a festive, holiday-themed performance. This year, the event took place on Dec. 12, with 32 ensembles, consisting of approximately 350 to 400 students, performing holiday songs in two concerts at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Orchestra director Andrew Masters, choir director Michael Molloy and band directors Kevin Dobbeck and John Wojciechowski spent the prior month rehearsing pieces for their ensembles to perform. Meanwhile, small groups of students practiced their own pieces outside of class. With the entire music department performing, a large amount of planning was required.
Tickets were sold through the Friends of Music website, managed by parent volunteers.
“There is a website [for] ticket sales. [Our] boosters, the Friends of Music, put that together,” said Masters.
Planning the order of 32 pieces depended on the ensembles students were in, as well as having groups available to perform while the stage was being changed.
“[We] have to have other ensembles playing while the stage is being changed over, and we have to make sure that students who perform in more than one ensemble have time to get from one to the other,” said Molloy.
The order of the program generally trended from youngest to oldest.
“The order of the program itself, there’s a healthy mix of advanced and less advanced. But we do tend to kind of migrate from youngest students to oldest students as it goes, with a few exceptions,” said Masters.
The temporary auditorium director, Joseph Hocking, led the behind-the-scenes effort, having worked backstage at Constellation during all four of his high school years at North. Nine students were on the tech crew, and their job was to set up the concert and change the scenery during small group performances.
“[We have to set up] chairs and music stands [and] instruments. [It’s] all the things that go on the stage for the bands and orchestras. The choir risers have to be set up for the choirs to go on, [also] decorations and lights. There’s some audio equipment,” said Molloy.
The decorations, including a lot of Christmas lights, were provided by the school.
“The decorations are owned by the auditorium, and they are stored in the auditorium, and they are put back into storage after the concert,” said Molloy.
A dress rehearsal took place on Dec. 11 to allow performers and conductors to practice moving locations and knowing the concert order.
“[To] make sure that everyone knows where to be and when, we have that dress rehearsal the day before the concert, [and] the stage crew, the teachers, the students, we all work together so we know the order,” said Masters.
Performers who were not on stage waited in a holding area. The Remind app was used to notify students when there was an upcoming performance that they were participating in.
Even while performances took place, there was still stage work being done. As small groups of students played pieces rehearsed outside of class, the stage scenery, used for large ensembles, was being switched by the stage crew. An intercom system was used to help them communicate, ensuring smooth operations.
All of the planning that went into the concert helped performers and conductors know what to expect. When everything was put together, the result was a concert that embraced holiday festivities and showcased the hard work of all musicians at North.
