The Winona Area Catholic Schools (WACS) Christmas concert  was a success on all levels and featured a surprise performer.

The event was held at the Basilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka on Thursday, December 5 from 6:30 to 7:30. The school’s classes were split into two performance groups, starting with the first, second, and third graders and then moving on to the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade group.

Tim Olstad gave a surprise visit to the large audience when he got up and sang “O Holy Night”, which was dedicated to “all of you.”  Tim thanked the WACS community for their support in his X Factor competition. His performance put a punctuation mark on what was already a night of musical excellence.

The night opened with a heart-felt welcoming remarks from WACS principal Mr. Bowlin,  that included thanking the teachers, students, parents, and grandparents for their hard work, love, and support.

The younger elementary students then began their part of the concert with the songs “Holiday Lights”, “Behold a Tiny Baby”, “The Spirit of Hanukkah”, “By the Star”, and “Rock the Cradle”.

The older students followed singing “Who is This Child?”, “Celebration of Light”, “Song of Mary”, “Were You There”, “We Need A Little Christmas”, “Christmas Lullaby”, and “Sing Noel, Noel”.

Directed by their music teacher, Julie Olstad and accompanied by Tara Welch, the night made everyone’s Christmas season a little brighter.  Jim Ballard also played his part in this performance.  He directed “Were You There”, which was dedicated to Tim Olstad, and prepared the trio and  handbells that performed during “Song of Mary”.

The students sounded as though they had been practicing together for weeks, when, in fact, they had only one rehearsal to put all the parts together- which just so happened to be the day of the concert.

If one grade level sings the melody and another grade level sings the harmony, they only have one time to hear how the parts come together.  The same is true when adding instrument ensembles to accompany the songs,” said Julie Olstad, who has now done 20 christmas concerts.  “It’s much like putting together the pieces of a quilt.”