ORLANDO, Fla.–More than 30 Lakeside High School chorus choristers sang at Disney’s Epcot on Saturday, Dec. 13.
The students, under the direction of teacher Maggie Christine, performed in the annual Candlelight Procession. The Candlelight Processional was created by Walt Disney himself, according to narrator Ralph Macchio of Karate Kid fame. The first processional was at Disneyland in 1958.
Charlie Terry, a sophomore at Lakeside, said performing in the processional was pretty awesome.
“At first, I was like, it’s not that big a deal,” he said. “But then I thought, oh wait, this is a huge deal!”
The students, dressed in yellow robes symbolizing candles and holding electric candles, processed into the American Gardens Theatre stage in Epcot’s American village as the 50-piece orchestra played Christmas carols.
The students accompanied a group of professional singers who performed as a living Christmas tree. They sang eleven carols, including “Do You Hear What I hear?” “Angels From the Realms of Glory,” “What Child is This,” and the “Hallelujah Chorus,” as well as the German-language version of “Silent Night.” The carols were interspersed with Macchio’s readings of the story of Joseph and Mary’s traveling to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus.
The process to get to the Candlelight Processional started in September, according to Christine.
“We started on audition at the beginning of school in August,” she said. “We had to audition by a certain date in September. We got accepted, and then we went home because of the hurricane.”
The choristers worked hard this fall, according to Christine. In addition to preparing for the Epcot performance, the chorus members also had to get their regular fall concert ready as well.
Along with preparing the students for their nearly hour-long performance, the high requires all music to be memorized, Christine also had to make travel arrangements and get tons of paperwork completed. Still, she said she’s love to bring her students back again.
“Maybe not next year, though,” she added.
