Discord fills the Rothschild Performing theater. Upstairs, the tuning of instruments battles with anticipatory chatter and last-minute pep talks. Downstairs, audience members rustle through programs and scramble to settle into seats. All of a sudden the house lights dim, and the off-key notes and talk fall off. For a moment in the dark, Patil Theater is suspended in silence.

As abruptly as the stillness overcame the crowd, the clarion of a trumpet ruptures it. Pink light bathes the musicians on stage. Feet begin tapping, heads begin nodding. The show is on; lost in the music it is hard to remember a time when it was not.

Lab Band, Jazz Band and Orchestra performed at the Winter Instrumental Concert on Dec. 8. The show featured a medley of jazz standards, symphonies and solos. Held for the first time in December, the concert also leaned into the holiday spirit with classics like “Winter Wonderland” and “Sleigh Ride”.

Following Harker tradition, the concert featured a senior soloist. Violist Harshini Chaturvedula (12) performed the first movement of Henri Casadesus’s Viola Concerto in C minor. She won the solo after winning the Orchestra’s concerto concert during the fall.

“She knows the music so deeply,” Orchestra director Jaco Wong said. “That energy projects to the rest of the orchestra.”

This year’s concert also commemorated Lab and co-Jazz Band director David Hart’s return to the music program. In a speech, Hart shared anecdotes and love for both the music program and the chemistry of the musicians.

“They changed my life,” Hart said. “All of these students change our lives. I’m so thrilled to come back after being gone for a year and to hear these people behind me because I care so much about them.”

Enjoy performance excerpts, interviews with jazz soloist Miki Mitarai (12) and directors Jaco Wong and David Hart and more in the video above.