Most Northwestern students could barely wait for the best gift of the season, time off from school, but a few select singers and instrumentalists returned to the high school Dec. 20, 2013, to raise their voices and their instruments at the annual holiday concert.

The concert featured two a cappella pieces, seven choral selections and four band offerings.

In its second year, the Arpeggios, an all-male group led by senior Kurtis Reif, performed "Christmas through Your Eyes."

Their female counterparts, the Naturalettes, followed suit with their rendition of the popular piece, "All I Want for Christmas is You."

After taking the stage, the chorus seemed to hit a snag when technology glitches put an end to the accompanying track.

Determined to proceed with the concert, music Director Scott Brown apologized to the audience and declared the chorus would perform its portion of the program without accompaniment or a cappella, when Tina Lebrecht, music teacher and parent of two of the performers, volunteered to accompany the chorus on piano.

Aided by her husband turning pages, the concert took on a warm family feeling.

"That's exactly what makes Northwestern such a special place," said concert attendee Paul Kuhn.

Another warm mo-ment came when Brown introduced another choral number, "Monotone Angel."

Brown said Andrew Granger would be a featured soloist.

"I'm always very proud of Andrew," Brown said. "He's been my student since he was in fifth grade. He's been wanting to have a solo and tonight he gets his wish."

The audience couldn't have been more appreciative.

In keeping with tradition, Reif presented Brown with gift cards from the student musicians.

After a short intermission, when raffle winners were selected, the concert continued with the band portion of the performance.

The final piece performed was "A Christmas Festival."

Brown invited audience participation.

"If you recognize any carols, please feel free to join in and sing along with the band," he said.

Moved by the spirit of the season, many in the audience decided to do just that.