ILWACO – The singers, seated in the front rows and dressed in their striking blue robes, continued to turn around and peek at the foyer in the back of the old Hilltop auditorium, looking for another family member or friend coming in at the last minute.

The occasion was the fall choir concert performed by the Ilwaco junior and senior High School choirs last Tuesday night. Titled “Songs of the Season,” the three singing groups entertained the large audience with a variety of tunes, both seasonal and not.

The IHS choir walked up the middle aisle of the theater, up the front steps of the stage and up again onto risers in the center of the stage where they immediately began the first song. The only problem was the tape they were singing to wasn’t ready and stopped halfway into the second set of verses to “We Three Kings.” But after the embarrassment settled into fading red cheeks and IHS music instructor Bob Walters restarted the tape, the choir was off and singing. The song was broken up into male and female parts that blended well in what Walters referred to as a “jazz waltz style.”

The choir’s second number was a piece entitled “Jazz Gloria,” to which Walters encouraged the audience to picture themselves on the plains of Israel near Bethlehem, where the low and high harmonies would hopefully convey “distance through dynamics.” It also became noticeable how few male voices there are in the choir – five in all – as on some parts Walters voice became noticeable among the younger vocals. The songs’ dynamics worked to great effect, with the song beginning and then ending again with only a few voices singing softly.

As the choir exited the stage and some changed out of their robes amongst the first few rows of seats, Walters explained that “you’re going to see a lot more movement then you’re used to” in the performance that evening, with groups coming and going and some props and dance moves thrown in. Walters said this as the IHS vocal ensemble took to the stage, dressed in more casual attire.

“The next one would definitely be appropriate for the last two days,” Walters said as he introduced the song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

“This group deserves every bit of praise it can get,” said Walters after the ensemble finished their first tune. “We start class at 7:15 a.m. – that’s even too early for me.”

For their second number, the ensemble performed a medley of Gershwin tunes titled “Gershwin in Love.” Senior Jessie Landeros started out the song on her own, then followed by Ashley Martin, who sang with smoky jazz club zeal. and Kim Benjamin rounded out the solos, while the group refrained with “Someone to Watch Over Me.”

As the junior high school choir took to the stage, Walters explained to the audience that an unforeseen development regarding the class schedule caused him to make his musical selection for the group. There ended up being two small choir classes, so they decided to do one big song. And “big” was an understatement – the number lasted 15 minutes.

“I’m not going to tell you how many songs there are (in the medley),” said Walters. “You can count them yourselves and then talk to me after the show.”

The medley was titled, “The Beat Goes On,” and it did – on and on. The tunes that made up the song spanned several decades, beginning with its namesake, made popular by Sonny and Cher in the late 1960s. The group sang through tunes like “Barbara Ann,” “The Locomotion,” and “Splish Splash” as well. The songs were augmented by various dance maneuvers by the group and solos by seven singers. The first to step forward was seventh-grader Josie Wright, singing the Connie Francis classic, “Where the Boys Are” in a very mature voice for her age. Elena Huddleston made her way through the Burt Bacharach tune, “Close to You,” followed by Kassie Christopher, who tried her hand at the Carole King song, “You’ve Got a Friend.”

As the group segued into the decade of the ’80s, Desmin Wirkkala, Hayley Sneer and Rachel Herman rapped a bit prior to the group launching into the Micheal Jackson hit, “Beat It.” In all, the medley was made up of 16 different songs.

The ensemble returned to the stage for a few non-seasonal favorites, starting out with the old Louis Armstrong staple, “What a Wonderful World.” The group then went into a much more groovy version of the Simon and Garfunkel song “Feelin’ Groovy (the 59th Street Bridge Song),” complete with a scat solo in the middle by senior Nick Wheatley.

In what may have been the best number of the night, the IHS choir returned to the stage once more and performed what Walters described as a “swinging spiritual,” titled, “Ezekiel Saw The Wheel.” The group finished up the night with the classic Christmas carol “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful.” Landeros once again sang lead on a loping version of the tune.

“Well, we love to sing and we love to sing for you,” said Walters as he wished the audience a good evening and a happy holiday at the close of the program.