Monday night's concert at St. Thomas a Becket Catholic Church in Reston was billed as a Holiday Concert showcasing Herndon High School musicians.

Organizer Dana Harold is involved in both communities. She is a parishioner and administrative assistant atf St. Thomas a Becket and a parent of two Herndon High graduates and two current HHS students, plus she is president of the Guitar Ensemble boosters.   

"The music program has a strong influence on all of our students and has become an important part of the community." said Harold.

Harold worked with the Herndon High music department to bring their young musicians to Findlay Hall for an evening of holiday music.  The event was free, but attendees were encouraged to give a donation to the HHS music program. While she worried that only six people would show up for this inaugural event, the room was packed.

The first group, the Symphonic Orchestra, led by Bette Gawinski, orchestra performed three selections: Ice Sculptures,  All is Calm and Christmas Eve in Sarajevo.

Following the orchestra was a quartet of Herndon High School graduates, all now at different colleges, who came together for this evening's event.  Meagan Carrick and Liz Smith (vocals) joined Anatole Doak and Christopher Harold (guitar) for some sweet carols including I'll be home for Christmas and Jingle Bell Rock.  

Herndon High School has four levels of guitar ensembles, each led by Christopher Cunningham.  The Level III Guitar ensemble performed Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Flowers from The Nutcracker, a complex piece with sections that allowed individual guitarists to really shine. 

The Level IV Guitar ensemble performed the Little Fugue in G Minor  by Bach beautifully and then closed their portion of the evening with a rollicking Sleigh Ride, composed by Leroy Anderson, and arranged for guitar ensemble by director Cunningham.

The Contemporary Choir from St. Thomas a Becket, led by John Scalea,  joking that they had guitars older than the Herndon students, closed the evening with a selection of holiday tunes, including Joy to the World, with the entire audience invited to join in.