Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, December 19, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Though the Santa Claus parade is behind us, there's still one more holiday tradition awaiting Yellowknifers this year: Christmas concerts, and lots of them.

Both Sir John and Weledeh are ready to rock tonight and tomorrow, respectively, for their annual holiday musical events.

Sir John Franklin high school gets going tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre for an eclectic evening of music, according to instructor Bill Gilday.

He said the night would include everything from Carol of the Bells, to a medley from the Nutcracker Suite, to a relatively obscure Spanish tune - all as performed by the school's concert band, jazz band and choir.

"It's going to be a real nice time," Gilday said.

Grade 11 music student Victoria Merritt, 16, said this concert will be the culmination of hours and hours of work - both in and outside of class.

"There's a lot of good pieces and we're working hard on them," she said.

She said there are at least two main draws to this year's concert:

"We have a lot of great music and tickets are cheap," she said. "Anyone who appreciates music will really love the concert."

While Gilday warned tickets were scarce early this week, he assured music fans that it was still worth it to show up.

"There's always a few seats here and there," he said.

Things are equally hectic at Weledeh as the school is preparing for its annual Christmas pageant - to be held in the Weledeh gym Thursday at 7 p.m.

Instructor Lillian McOuat has been co-ordinating a production that includes a heap of students from throughout the school.

"We have the Grade 7-8 band playing, we have a Dogrib group singing, and a Grade 3-5 school choir," she said.

On top of that, some students will be putting on a play: A Very Important Christmas Pageant. Most of the songs are in the Christmas theme as well, she said.

With that, she had to run. These things don't co-ordinate themselves, after all.