As the school year draws to an end, the various bands and choirs of Fresno Christian wind down to their final set of songs for the annual spring concerts. The groups will perform music with themes such as Disney and renowned movies, aiming for a lighthearted atmosphere. The band concert will be May 14 and the choir will perform May 16.

“The theme is more lighthearted and fun,” band director Jimmy Loomis said. “It’s a look at the music we’ve seen in music and on TV that we don’t necessarily get to perform every day.”

The high school jazz band took on five pieces, “Accidentally in Love” and “I’m a Believer” from Shrek; “Theme from Spider-Man”; “If I Didn’t Have You” from Monsters Inc. and “The Pink Panther”. “Theme from Spider-Man” will feature freshman Nick Avery on tenor saxaphone and Dana King on alto saxaphone with solos; King will solo again in “If I Didn’t Have You,” and freshman Josh Hopper will perform a trombone solo in “The Pink Panther.”

A few members of the junior high band recently joined the high school jazz band, and will perform “Accidentally In Love” and “Theme from Spider-Man” with the group at the show. Eighth grade student Sabrina Kumar will be one of the members performing the high school band.

“I feel fine combining with the high school,” Kumar said. “It’s comforting to play with them, no troubles. They are more experienced, so we’ll just be blending in with them.”

The high school concert band prepared six songs from well-known movies to bring to life. They will perform several songs from feature films. Sophomore Jacob Balderas will solo on alto saxaphone in “The Incredibles,”; junior Daniel Hopper on flute and seniors Chelsea Joy and Hayley Olsen on clarinet in “The Lord of the Rings,” and “Go West!” features solos by Daniel and Joy.

Sophomore Josh Smith favors the solo performed in “Go West!” by Daniel, as the solo comes from one of his favorite films, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

“The song is epic and the solo is epic,” Smith said. “When he first played it and everyone laughed, I didn’t find it so much funny, just really cool. I like the movie a lot, so it’s awesome that we’re playing music from it.”

Instead of the junior high concert band playing alone, they will join the high school concert band to perform “The Lord of the Rings,” “Star Wars,” and “The Incredibles.”

“This show is a comprehensive look at the music department,” Loomis said. “The audience gets to look at the students from fifth grade to high school. Since this is the show to end the year, everything we have worked on should show; the cohesiveness and how we perform together.”

The choir, with a Disney theme, will present songs from movies such as The Lion King, Aladdin and Mary Poppins. The concert choir will preform “Disney on Stage,” “You’ll Be in My Heart,” and “Disney Dazzle!” Ensemble will sing “Ever Ever After,” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” along with “A Disney Silly Sing-Along,” performed with the junior high ensemble. The women in choir will sing “Colors of the Wind,” while the men sing “The Bare Necessities.” The junior high will sing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” and “Candle on the Water.”

Junior Tyler Combs is the only soloist in the concert, performing “Santa Fe” from Newsies.

Freshman, Allison Camden finds some of the songs to be entertaining to sing, but others to be more difficult.

“I love to song ‘Disney Dazzle!'” said Camden. “It’s a medley of Disney songs like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. But from ensemble, “Ever Ever After” and “Colors of the Wind” are hard. It’s difficult to get all the pitches right.”

The usual formal attire will not appear at the choir performance. Instead, each student will be dressed up as a Disney character to play up the Disney theme. Junior Aaron Kroeker, who plans to portray the hero Davey Crockett, says he is looking forward to wearing the costumes.

“It will be fun to dress up,” Kroeker said. “The outfits add another element to the concert, so it won’t just be the regular tuxes and dresses.”

Choir members will not only sing at their show, but two dances will be performed along the way. The concert includes the dances “Step in Time,” from Mary Poppins, and “We’re All in This Together,” from High School Musical.

“It will be fun,” Camden said. “It’s Disney, everyone knows it’s supposed to be fun!”

While Camden feels positive about the routine, Kroeker is not sure how to take on the dancing scene.

“It will be fun, but kind of embarrassing,” Kroeker said. “I have mixed feelings about it. To dance and sing at the same time is hard, and it takes coordination.”

Choir director Aaron Bryan feels the concert will be unique and worth all of the effort.

“Our year-end concert is always one of the highlights of the year,” Bryan said. “The costumes and the choreography make this concert unique from all our other concerts throughout the year. This year’s theme lends itself to more interesting and exciting costumes. The students have all worked hard on their costumes and I know the audience will not be disappointed.”

The band concert will be held May 14, 7 p.m. at the Riverpark Bible Church chapel; choir performs May 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Ground Zero on the Peoples Church campus. Admission is free for all.