The winter concert took place in Friends Select School’s Blauvelt Theatre on January 15, 2026. The audience heard a variety of musical selections from our upper school students. The program featured both singing and a range of instruments, including a mix of newer and classical songs.
The concert started off with a performance from the choir, sung beautifully by Maria Emerick, AJ Jain, Rachel Kadish, and Ben Yerkes, in addition to Ryan Peteraf filling in for a missing student. The group sang “From the Start” by Laufey and Spencer Stewart, arranged by Michele Weir; “Back on 74” by Joshua Lloyd-Watson, Thomas McFarland, and Lydia Kitto, arranged by Mac Huff; and “White Winter Hymnal” by Robin Pecknold, arranged by Roger Emerson, with Ting Ting Wong as accompanist.
This performance was followed by the orchestra, consisting of Ifeoluwa Akinyemi, Yuri Campos, Leena Dagli, Maya Dagli, Jaeden Jeronimo, Reese Kurtz, Aiyu Lei, Vivian Lin, Heather Lines, Noah Malvey, Winnie Myers, William Papianou, Hannah Smith, Theo Stanev Potts, Tara Wang, and Jackson Young. The orchestra performed “A Dream To Build On” by Alan Lee Silva, “Human Enigma” by Ash Madni, “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3” by JS Bach, arranged by Black Violin, and lastly, “Scherzo” from “The Cello Quintet” by Franz Schubert, arranged by Robert Debbaut.
The event concluded with a performance by the jazz ensemble. This section of the performance was played by Elliot Anderson, Sam Barth, Mira Brodie, Dele Ekundare, Clara Gluzdov, Parker Kim, Abe McCann, Alden Otis, Nick Robbins, David Ryan, and Clayton Whitesell. The group performed “Manteca” by Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Ponzo, & Gil Fuller, arranged by Cutter Mummert; “St. Thomas” by Sonny Rollins, arranged by Cutter Mummert; “Strasbourg/St. Denis” by Roy Hargrove; “Little Sunflower” by Freddie Hubbard, arranged by Cutter Mummert; and lastly, “All of Me” by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons, arranged by Cutter Mummert.
The performances were directed by teachers Ryan Peteraf, Heather Fortune, and Cutter Mummert. The concert highlighted the musical achievements of our students and served as one of the school’s major musical events of the year.