New Westlake choir director debuts with school’s holiday concert




Amy Rolniak Courtesy Photo

Amy Rolniak Courtesy Photo

Westlake High School’s choir program entered a new chapter in its history Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 when choral music director Amy Rolniak led her students through the school’s annual holiday program.

Rolniak replaces longtime director Alan Rose, who retired last spring after 35 years.

Her WHS debut concert, titled “Swingin’ at Santa’s,” was closely geared to Rose’s formatting with a few minor changes. The show continued the all-around excellence demonstrated in past years.

Rolniak earned her bachelor’s degree in music with a teaching certificate from the University of Iowa and her master’s in vocal performance from the University of Arizona. She was active at both schools as an opera singer and also sang in their top choral ensembles.

For the past 15 years, Rolniak has taught middle and high school choirs, most recently at CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts in Van Nuys.

As has been the custom at WHS, the first half of the concert was devoted to individual choral groups, beginning with the freshman chorus.

After performing a straightforward version of “Feliz Navidad,” the group was separated into male and female units. The freshman women began their set with a sweet, angelic version of Rick and Sylvia Powell’s “Peace, Peace,” a song whose sheet music has sold well over a half-million copies. The women also performed a clever adaptation of “Jingle Bells,” featuring rhythmic twists and tempo changes, which was popularized by Barbra Streisand on her 1967 “A Christmas Album.”

The freshman men’s segment featured Nathaniel Mark’s beautiful high-tenor solo on “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” housed within a medley of three carols arranged by Sherri Porterfield, and the whimsical “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

One of the best received numbers of the night was the mixed chorale’s performance of indie folk group Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal,” which featured five students making intricate body percussion sounds, including hand claps, chest pats and finger snaps.

The mixed small ensemble is a new group of 22 female students who volunteered in afterclass sessions to learn two songs: “Christmas Lullaby,” composed by Broadway songwriter Cy Coleman with Peggy Lee, and Mac Huff’s arrangement of Jerry Herman’s “We Need a Little Christmas” from the musical “Mame.”

A set by the women’s chorale was highlighted by Greg Gilpin’s inspirational Hebrew song “Ha Shalom,” which showed off the group’s ability to vary dynamics. The men’s ensemble’s set featured Kirby Shaw’s doo-wop flavored arrangement of “A Holly Jolly Christmas” and Straight No Chaser’s amusing mash-up of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” which melds the traditional carol with Toto’s ’80s classic “Africa” along with bits of other carols.

The vocal ensemble concluded the first half with three a cappella numbers: the traditional Hanukkah song “S’vivon,” Molly Ijames’ version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and the traditional spiritual “Ain’t That A-Rockin’.”

The second half began with a quartet of songs by WHS’ premiere show choir, A Class Act, which increased from 12 to 16 members. The group’s use of hand mics, which makes dance moves cumbersome, is outmoded, so hopefully Rolniak will be able to replace them with standard head mics in the future.

The show concluded with the assembled groups performing show choir medleys of holiday songs arranged by Mac Huff, Kirby Shaw and Mark Brymer, highlighted by Ben Harris’ Elvislike strut on “Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me).”

Rolniak has replaced the traditional show closer, Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus, with “Auld Lang Syne.” During the song she embraces in turn each of the graduating seniors, showing the true affection and rapport she already has with the students.

For more information on the choir, visit westlakechoir.org.