Mary Eliot Chapel was aglow with stars, moons, and Beasley musicians on Tuesday, December 16 for the annual Lower School Winter Program. This year’s theme was Winter Dreams, and all the songs focused on nighttime celebrations of winter and winter holidays. The speaking roles before each song consisted of poetry with a theme of dreams and nighttime, including classics such as Jane Taylor’s Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, a condensed version of T’was the Night Before Christmas, Chanukah Dreams by Judith Ish-Kishor, and The Dream Keeper by Langston Hughes. The program was directed by Dr. Katy Nichols, Lower School Music Teacher, and accompanied by Kathleen Baker. Upper School Arts Teachers Patrick Huber and Tim Henderson, and Elika Coff ’30, assisted with sound and lighting.
Students began the show with The Turn Off Your Phone Song, a humorous parody of Pachelbel’s Canon, sung by the third- and fourth-grade Beasley Choir. Fourth-Grade Teacher Jen Van Dyken played a surprise role as her cell phone began ringing, interrupting the song. She came on stage and was quickly reminded by the students to turn off her phone. The children loved it, and it was a funny—and effective—way to remind the audience to silence cell phones.
The oldest Lower School students stayed on stage for a gorgeous rendition of a mashup of A Sky Full of Stars/Golden Hour (Coldplay/JVKE, Arr. Brad Stephenson). Students sang in two parts while doing choreography with small, extremely bright finger lights, which looked like shooting stars in the darkened auditorium. The effect was moving and many in the audience teared up with the beauty of the children’s voices with the lighting effects.
Then, Junior and Senior Kindergarten students came onto the stage sporting wearable art stars that lit up, created under the direction of Lower School Art Teacher Sarah Garner. The children sang Stars Are Shining Bright Tonight, accompanied by the third graders on the barred instruments, followed by Silent Night which they performed vocally and with sign language.
Next up were the second graders singing Aeyaya Balano Sakkad in honor of Diwali. This year, a second-grader who plays the tabla, an Indian drum set, was featured in the piece. He practiced under the direction of his tabla teacher and provided authenticity to the sound of the piece.
First graders joined the second grade to celebrate Kwanzaa, in Light the Kinara for Kwanzaa. Students sang in two parts and second graders accompanied the singing on tubanos and djembes.
(Everybody’s Waitin’ for) The Man With the Bag featured an MICDS Middle School upright bass player, Prashanti Mamileti ’30, and a Middle School percussionist, Brandon Jewett ’31. This holiday classic also had a surprise guest, Santa Claus, played by First-Grade Teaching Associate Tanner Amell. The first- and second-graders were in on the surprise and had much anticipation for this special moment in the song. It was adorable to see their reactions while they were singing.
Next, the fourth grade followed up with their own feature piece, Shalom Chaverim, a Hebrew folk song that they arranged, meaning that the students themselves decided what instruments would be played and when. There was a variety of instrumentation from barred instruments to ukuleles and violin. The students gave themselves a challenge to play the piece and sing it in unison and in a round while playing accompanying instruments, which is difficult to do. They were successful in their arrangement and proud of their hard work!
Third- and fourth-grade students had a final feature piece together, Lunar Lullaby, composed by Kansas City-area composer Jacob Narverud. This was a slower, quieter piece that featured paper lanterns and flashlights with the children singing, “you are my radiant, my celestial child.” The audience was clearly touched by this moving piece.
Finally, it was time for the last song, a Beasley tradition that involves all Lower School students. They sang Circle the Earth (with Peace), accompanied by special guest Head of School Jay Rainey on piano.
Special changes this year included adding student instrumentalists during transitions of students on and off the stage. It was a fabulous way to feature our talented students while students are changing places.
The lighting effects were also magical. Coff and Huber collaborated to code the lighting into the light board. This included light washes of blue, amber, and white to enhance the repertoire sung by the children. They also turned on just one chandelier over the third graders while they accompanied the JK and SK so the third graders could see to play their instruments, while still allowing the JK and SK students to shine brightly as stars. The lighting added an extra magical glow to the whole show.
Faculty, staff, and administration worked together to support the children on and off the stage, passing out and gathering props, and encouraging them to do their best. It is a community effort to pull off such a special experience for our students and the MICDS community.
“Our students worked incredibly hard to bring this program to life,” said Dr. Nichols. “Every child memorized music and choreography, some learned speaking parts, and a few bravely stepped in for friends who were sick at home. All of our students learned how to perform as ensembles, singing in unison, and our first through fourth graders even leveled up to singing in two parts. They also took on some impressive instrumental challenges.
I want to thank Mrs. Garner and LS Teaching Associate Mrs. Marita Kheim for transforming stars into beautiful, wearable art, and our backstage crew: PE Teacher Mrs. Sue Orlando, LS Library Associate Mrs. Nicole Liebman, Mrs. Garner, and LS Teaching Associate Mr. Eric Kimminau, for keeping props and instruments moving smoothly. Thank you also to all of our teachers and staff who volunteered their time to support our students on and off the stage. We are grateful to our maintenance and facilities teams for setting up risers, moving instruments, and making sure everything was ready for the performance. And finally, thank you to Head of Lower School Amy Scheer, Administrative Assistant to the Head of Lower School Linda Ganss, and JK-12 Arts Chair Dr. Bonnie Carpenter for handling the logistics and behind-the-scenes details to ensure our Winter Program shone.”
What a wonderful evening for our Lower School students, their teachers, and their parents, grandparents, and other guests! Happy holidays from our Beasley friends!
Click the following student names to see the beautiful programs designed by Upper School Digital Design 2 students Morgan Macam ’26 and Izzy Chao ’28.