ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Thanksgiving is a little more than a week away, and soon, the holiday season will begin with all the sights and sounds of Christmas.
This Friday, Seward County Community College is bringing some of those sights and sounds to life prior to Thanksgiving with its annual holiday concert in the Clifford & Irene Pepper Showcase Theater.
SCCC Instrumental Music Director Claire Thompson said the evening will start at 7 p.m. with a variety of holiday and winter tunes from the school’s choir before a brief break to bring the band on stage.
“The band is going to play four holiday selections for our community,” she said. “We just hope as many people as possible show up and support our students. They’ve been working incredibly hard on the music since the semester started in August, and we’re very excited to put on this concert and get everybody in the holiday spirit.”
Thompson said the choir’s music will tell some great winter stories.
“There’s a specific song from the movie ‘The Polar Express,’” she said. “The band is playing a lot of holiday classics, holiday favorites. It is the week before Thanksgiving.”
With Thanksgiving falling late in the month on Nov. 28, this caused the concert to take place earlier than normal, but Thompson said holiday spirit will still be in the air at SCCC.
“I really do think it’ll get everybody excited for the holiday season and spending that time with their friends and their family and maybe get people a little excited about holiday shopping as well,” she said.
Thompson said those in attendance Friday can expect many things, but primarily to be entertained with a great show.
“With the choir, there’s one specific piece I really like that tells the story of this poor little angel who loves to sing, but can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” she said. “I think there will be laughter, and there will be pieces that will get you emotionally as well. There’s one specific piece the band is doing.”
Thompson said that piece is a version of the holiday favorite “Silent Night” she initially felt would be the students’ least favorite piece.
“It’s slower, more melodical, not as exciting as other pieces,” she said. “It turned out to be their favorite because we’re performing it a little differently than our normal concert band setup. They’re very excited about that and the work they have put into trying to reach those holiday emotions for our audience.”
Christmas is a season of joy and giving, and Thompson hopes Friday’s concert strikes a chord with the crows of good memories.
“They can expect to laugh, maybe cry a little bit, but leave the concert happy and in the holiday spirit,” she said.
As Friday approaches, Thompson said her excitement continues to grow.,
“I’ve been, the last couple of weeks especially, buzzing around campus looking forward to my first concert with these students,” she said. “Not only do we have our Seward County kids in band, but we have high schoolers who have volunteered their time as well.”
A good portion of the students in SCCC’s band are students Thompson also taught as an elementary music teacher, most recently at Liberal’s Prairie View Elementary.
“Being able to see these students grow not only as people but as musicians and see what they’re capable of for this concert, I could not be more excited to put on this show on Friday,” she said.
As an elementary teacher, Thompson had conducted Christmas concerts, but with being new to her position at SCCC, she is a little more nervous for Friday’s concert, and above all else, she wants to do her best.
“We’ve worked hard with the band,” she said. “I’ve held evening and weekend extra rehearsals. I practice a lot on my own. I’m constantly listening to that music. I’ve worked extra hard in preparing for this, and that preparation is going to pay off. There’ll be some nervous excitement, but I’m more excited than anything else.”
Thompson, though, said preparing for a college concert is similar to an elementary concert in terms of what she does to prepare for the night, as well as the steps she takes to ensure students are prepared for a good performance.
“Preparation for me is a little different because the music is a lot more challenging than you would find at an elementary school,” she said. “I do a lot of studying the music, making sure I cue the right instruments to make sure they come in on time, making sure my tempos are accurate. I’ll check against the metronome to make sure I’m solid on that. I do watch myself conduct in a mirror to make sure I’m saying exactly what I want through my conducting so the students know what to play. For me, there has been more preparation on that because the music is more challenging and there’s more I can do with older students.”
SCCC’s school colors are similar to the shade of green of a Christmas tree, giving the college somewhat of a year-round holiday feel, and with that in mind, the sights and sounds of Friday’s concert, Thompson said, are going to feel even more festive.
“We’re going to capture that with our lighting, and I know my students are going to be wearing concert black with a little bit of holiday pizazz,” she said. “Whether it’s a tie or a scarf or whatever, we will have some holiday spirit in what we’re wearing as well. It’s going to be an atmosphere of fun, excitement and getting everybody ready for the holiday season.”
Friday’s concert starts at 7 p.m. in the Showcase Theater. Advance tickets are available in Room No. H116 in the Shank Humanities Building at SCCC.
“Community members can speak with Jenn Player to purchase those tickets,” Thompson said. “She’s in her office Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and if you’re unable to get your advance tickets, there should be some available at the door. The cost of tickets is $3 a person.”
For more information, e-mail Thompson at
“She’s incredibly knowledgeable,” Thompson said. “She’s our division coordinator. She can help people out as well if I’m not available.”
