The annual De Soto High school combined Christmas choir and band concert took place on Dec. 10 in the gymnasium.

The Band performed the pieces Sleigh Bells, Christmas Music for Winds and Jingle Bells Forever. A few of the songs that the choir were Walking in a Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bell Rock and African Noel. The Jazz band also performed Benndetta, Greensleeves and Copycat.

The concert lasted around an hour and a half with the band and choir both performing over half an hour with both band and choir coming together at the end for Hallelujah Chorus.

“I was glad that the concert went so well after the practice we had put in for it over the past couple of weeks,” said junior choir and band member Nelson Reeves.

Participants enjoyed hearing renditions of some of their favorite Christmas songs while also hearing new ones.

“My favorite performance of the night was the band’s performance of Sleigh bells,” junior Nick Schimdt said.

The band and the choir had been preparing for the concert performance for about a month. The choir had only six days of class to prepare for the concert and did not have outside of class practices.

The band practiced every class day for about a month and students had to take time out of school to make sure they were ready.

“The concert really shows the choir members’ ability to step up when they need to, with the little given time we had to prepare for the concert,” choir teacher Mary Etta Copeland said.

The band and choir put a lot of effort into the concert performance giving spectators an enjoyable holiday concert.