Nome-Beltz ushers in the holidays with Winter Concert

Community members gathered in the Nome Elementary School gymnasium on Tuesday, December 16 evening for the Nome-Beltz Middle High School Winter Concert.
As the room slowly filled with parents and families, the middle and high school bands occupied the upper right corner of the bleachers, filling the room with a cacophony of tuning and notes.
The gym was decked out for the holidays. Off to each side was a festive backdrop, and the choral risers were festooned with streamers and ribbons. On the right, a Christmas tree decked out with lights and ornaments stood guard, and there was a video of a crackling fireplace on the projector screen.
Parents filmed the performances from the bleachers or the sides, and the silent desert auction off to the side garnered lots of attention.
Music director Richard Sargent said in an interview with the Nugget that the desert auction aimed to raise money for new instruments. There are a lot of kids with interest in band, but not enough instruments to go around. “We’re looking for either donations to help us cover the cost of new-to-us instruments, or just instrumental donations themselves,” he said.
As the Middle High School Chorus took to the risers for their performances, Sargent stepped up to the mic. He told the audience that they were in for a fantastic evening. Last year, there were two students performing, plus Sargent. This year, eleven students came up to sing, ten girls and one boy. “It’s just so wonderful to feel the energy of what’s going on right now,” he said.
After the chorus performed “Give Us Hope” and “Jingle ALLLLLL the Ways,” the middle school band trooped out to perform. They played “First Fundamentals,” “Rolling Along” and the ever-popular “Jingle Bells” to applause from the audience. Sargent said that he was proud of everyone performing, no matter what role they were playing. “Everybody who’s in this, whether they’re in chorus, middle school band, high school band,” he said. “Everybody is filling this particular sized hole that only they can fill.”
It was the high school band’s first time performing with the percussion section. Sargent said that they had tried to practice together before the concert, but schedules didn’t line up. Despite the trouble, they launched into a rendition of “Snowy Christmas Day,” followed by “Anasazi” and “Snow Day!” without any hangups.
As the students cleaned up the music stands and packed up their instruments, Sargent stepped aside for an interview. He said he’s proud of the students and how they performed. “As I got here, and I just heard all the wild chaos in the music room. I’m just like, ‘This is how it’s supposed to be,’” he said. “I don’t like wild and chaos, but they’re happy, and that’s the number one thing.”