Sadly, the end of the holidays means the beginning of winter — real winter, that is. There are no more festive lights to illuminate the long, cold nights, no weekend parties to liven up the bleak weeks. Winter is a great excuse to curl up with a good book, however, or do the next best thing . . . Netflix. With so many anticipated movies and albums debuting in 2015, I’m pretty sure that stack of books by my bad will be untouched until spring. So here we go, grab a mug of hot chocolate and settle in for some great new flicks!

Movies

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron: America’s favorites are at it again including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Captain America (Chris Evans) battling with the evil robot Ultron (voiced by James Spader) for, you know, the entire world. The movie premieres on May 1st and, based on the preview, will most likely be awesome.

2. St. James Place: Steven Spielberg directs and Tom Hanks stars in this cold war thriller that involves a lawyer tasked with negotiating the release of a pilot shot down over the Soviet Union. Due out in early October, this project by two Hollywood veterans is sure to be a good pastime on a rainy day.

3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2: Katniss, played by the flawless Jennifer Lawrence, is out of the arena and into the fire. The district’s champion must lead her underdog army against the all-powerful Capitol and its villainous ruler President Snow (Donald Sutherland).  The sequel opens in theaters on November 20th. If the second part is even half as good as the first, this movie will definitely be worth the wait.

4. Joy: Jennifer Lawrence (once again!) and David O. Russell pair up for the third time to recreate the life of Joy Mangano, the real-life inventor of the Miracle Mop. The movie is already an Oscar contender, and was released on Christmas day. Let’s be honest, I just really love Jennifer Lawrence, but come on, who doesn’t??

5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: JJ Abrams sets his directing eye on a galaxy far, far away with this movie. The cast includes original stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford alongside new additions John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson. Appearing in the universe this December, the world will witness how Harrison Ford is in his seventies and still kicking butt.

Music

1. Coldplay –A Head Full of Dreams: In late 2015, this British band will release what could be their final album. Speaking to the BBC last month, singer Chris Martin described the new album as their last. “We haven’t told anyone this, but we’re making an album called A Head Full of Dreams. We’re right in the middle of it,” he said. “I have to think of it as the final thing we’re doing. Otherwise we wouldn’t put everything into it.” Don’t be too broken up over this grand finale though. Coldplay will tour their new album for another year.

2. Kanye West: The great Yeezy gave fans a new year’s gift by releasing Only One, the first single from his new album. The track is an ode to his late mother and features Paul McCartney on backing vocals and piano. It is the only clue we have about what to expect from Kanye’s seventh album, which is supposed to be more toned down than 2013’s Yeezus. West’s co-writer, the rapper Malik Yusef, described the songs to Rolling Stone magazine as being “like a pair of Timberlands – like how Timberlands are not quite leather and not quite suede.” Who knows what that means? I’m just hoping he brings baby North on tour.

3. Kendrick Lamar: His second album Good Kids was embraced by everyone from hip-hop fans to hipsters, and Kendrick’s follow-up is the most eagerly awaited rap album of the year. He probably knows this, and he and producer Dr. Dre have been working hard in the studio to record more than 40 songs. People are eagerly awaiting this album, the real question is, Ken he live up to the hype? (lol)

4. Lorde: When she was 16, her hit song Royals invaded every radio station my car can play, and her album Pure Heroine found itself on every 2013 end-of-year album list, even topping The New York Times’ critics picks. As a result, her newest venture is eagerly awaited by millions of fans. Lorde promised something that sounds “totally different.” However it sounds, I bet I will definitely be praising the Lorde when I hear her newest tunes.

Check out some recordings of both the Band and Choral Holiday concerts posted by Mr. Ryerson! https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9CGbyxjnpzeY1o0ZE9ELVcybDg&authuser=0

The first Band concert of the year was Thursday, December 18th, and it also marked Mr. Harden’s debut as Band Director here at HHS. After an awesome marching season, people were excited to hear what the band could produce in a concert setting. The Band certainly did not disappoint! Concert Band, Percussion Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble were the groups to perform that night, each putting their own spin on Christmas music.

Concert Band started off with a medley of famous Christmas carols including Silent Night and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Right after, they played Seal Lullaby, which was meant to be the slow song of the show. Mr. Schnelle was featured on the piano for that song and, for everyone in the audience, it was quite the musical treat. After that, the band played the Nutcracker suite. Any musician would agree that this piece is challenging, but it was quite the feeling to hear the audience raving about the Band’s performance. Finally, Concert Band played Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson. I can guarantee that you have heard this song on the radio. The pressure of everyone knowing the song you are about to play was certainly there but it was amazing to hear how well it came out.

Concert Band has around 60 students and includes freshmen through seniors. One of the awesome things about Concert Band, in my opinion, is that it includes anyone who wants to play. Everyone learns so much about music and it always amazes me how far the Band comes from our first reading of a piece to the final performance during a concert.

Percussion Ensemble also played two songs for the concert. This group meets after school for about an hour once a week and is open to anyone who wants to join. They play drums of all sizes and even mallet instruments. The music they played was truly breathtaking and I really enjoyed it.

Jazz Ensemble ended the concert with some, you guessed it, jazzy Christmas songs. Jazz Ensemble is an audition-based group of about 15 musicians that is meant to emulate a 1930s era big band. They play in concerts and also “gig” at various events in the Hanover area. If you have the opportunity to hear them, they are amazing! Many students had the chance to solo and they all were really good.

Everyone I’ve talked to has raved about the Band’s holiday concert. If you couldn’t make this one, I encourage you to attend the next concert which will feature the songs the Band is going to play during our tour at Williamsburg in the spring. You won’t want to miss it.

Click here to see the program from the concert: HHS Winter Instrumental Concert

Many of us, at one time or another, have wished we could be someone else: someone cooler, smarter, better looking, more popular, whatever. But would we be crazy enough — or, as some people might say, brave enough — to just walk away from everything we know and reinvent ourselves?

After high school junior Christopher Creed disappears, leaving only a cryptic note, the community is left to wonder if he ran away, killed himself or was murdered. Everyone has their own version of what happened. Classmates who saw Chris as an obnoxious weirdo and a target for bullies had no trouble believing he committed suicide even though no body had been found. His parents, certain Chris had been happy and and would never hurt himself or run away, began looking for someone to blame. His neighbor Ali, who saw things from her bedroom window that others didn’t know, wasn’t sure if Chris was dead or alive but was convinced his parents had played a part.

The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci explores not just a teen’s mysterious disappearance but also how one event can ricochet throughout a community. It highlights how gossip, rumors and a belief in reputation over fact can have dangerous consequences. The main character, Torey Adams, is one of the students who paid little attention to Chris Creed — except for the time he punched Chris for touching his guitar (seems most of the boys in Chris’ class have their own memory of punching him). But after Chris disappears, Torey starts to feel guilty about the careless rumors and insensitive jokes of his friends and their parents. With the help of Ali and Bo, a kid from the “wrong side” of town whose police record makes him a suspect in Chris’ disappearance, Torey begins tracking down clues in hopes of solving the mystery. As the belief that Chris may have run away to create a new identity takes hold in Torey’s mind, he comes to the realization that everyone, no matter their reputation or differences, deserves some compassion. The climax in an Indian burial ground is as surprising as it is terrifying, but still leaves more questions than answers.

I recommend this book to mystery lovers, who will enjoy putting the pieces together as they are revealed bit by bit in flashbacks. But I also think all readers can relate to the gossip mill that is high school, and the pressures from parents and peers on teens that don’t fit in. The book is 276 pages long but not a difficult read.

I would say that the best thing about Christmas is all of those beloved Christmas songs you hear every second on every single radio station. But on Thursday, December 11th, the three choirs (Concert Chorus, VOX and Chorale) of HHS made those Christmas songs go from tiresome to delightful once again.

Being a member of concert chorus, I can personally say that the best word for the process of becoming performance ready is this: chaos! We had very little time to prepare and our Chorus director, Mr. John Schnelle, is still a noobie learning the ropes here at HHS.

But despite these setbacks, the concert was amazing.

The evening started off with the tradition of VOX singing “Carol of the Bells,” which always sounds beautiful. Chorale sang alongside Concert Chorus’s traditional Christmas songs such as “Sleigh Ride,” “Do You Hear What I Hear,” “Silver Bells” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Though there were some minor mistakes in “Silver Bells,”,they did not distract from the overall joyous sounds of the carols. As Mr. Schnelle says, “Make lots of mistakes, I’d rather have you make lots of confident mistakes than no sound at all.”

Then VOX stepped away from conventional Christmas songs and sang “A Ceremony of Carols.” This exquisite collection of poems portrays the birth of Jesus. The mood of the carols vary, ranging from the lightheartedness of Mary holding Jesus in her arms to the coldness of God fighting against the dark forces of Satan. The finale ends the way it began, with an overall sense of joyful closure. VOX was able to depict all of these emotions perfectly; fantastic job ladies!

The concert ended with a sing-a-long of “Joy To The World” and “Silent Night.” All members of the audience were encouraged to sing along and sure enough, the performers were not the only ones singing. The tradition of asking the alumni to join the choruses on stage once again added to the spirit of the sing-a-long. As for the grand finale, for the first time in HHS, the tradition of the choruses singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” had a twist. The HHS chamber wind band accompanied the choirs for an extraordinary blend of music. It really gave the powerful sound the “Hallelujah Chorus” demands.

An awesome job all around to everyone in the music department, I can’t wait to attend the band concert — hopefully now, people won’t be moaning about Christmas coming around the corner.

UPDATE: We now have the program from the concert. Click here to see it: HHS Winter Choral Concert.