After months of restrictions on live audiences, Sisters High School (SHS) and Middle School choir director Rick Johnson desperately wanted to get back to some semblance of normalcy for his music students. The result was a “Holiday Showcase” featuring a variety of performances on Friday, December 10, in the high school auditorium.

To limit crowd size for health safety, only students’ families, staff members, and a few special guests were invited to the performance, according to Johnson. Approximately 200 attendees were spread around the 600-seat auditorium.

Beyond the school choirs and bands performing, additional acts included a father-daughter duet, a family trio on fiddle and bass, and Sisters Dance Academy dancers.

The show kicked off with a video of Johnson, along with his wife and son, performing a clever version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which set a joyful mood for the remainder of the evening.

The high school wind ensemble followed with “One Christmas Night,” before high school student Blake Parker performed a solo of “Once Upon a December.”

The SHS jazz band gave a toe-tapping medley called “It’s the Holiday Season,” and Makenzie Shelswell-White, with her dad, Edward Shelswell-White, on guitar, sang “Last Christmas.”

The SHS jazz choir took the stage next with two numbers, “Bidi Bom,” and “Where Are You Christmas?”, followed by the Sisters Middle School choir performing “Let It Snow.”

The SHS cheer team mixed things up with an action-packed routine to the song “Underneath the Tree” before Ted and Sasha Stolasz and their mother, Melissa, brought out the bass and fiddles to perform a holiday medley.

A troupe from Sisters Dance Academy presented a moving routine to the song “Nine” and the SHS choir and SHS jazz choir wrapped things up with “The First Noel” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” respectively.

Johnson was pleased with the work and the result.

“I am incredibly proud of the jazz choir students,” he said. “Not only did they perform in it, they hosted, emceed, set changed, and ran every aspect of the show. It was so nice to have a holiday concert again after missing last year’s due to COVID.”

Charlie Kanzig

Allison Ilmberger and Ryan Kissinger performed in the Sisters High School Holiday Showcase.

In addition to all the performances Friday, the Jazz Choir sold tickets for their annual quilt raffle. Tickets are still available through most of the school year for $1 apiece. The quilt, made and donated by Sisters resident Susan Cobb, will be raffled off May 24, 2022 at the scheduled Pop Show. For more information, contact Johnson at

[email protected]