“Five! Four! Three, two, one!”

The crowd chants, whooping in excitement as the Christmas tree before them lights up. All around, children chase each other, teenagers chatter animatedly with their friends and dogs excitedly bark at the lights. Onstage, the sound of jingle bells fills the air as Downbeat singers, clad in black and gold, step up to the microphone.

Downbeat performed the final show of their day-long tour at the Los Gatos Tree Lighting in Town Plaza Park on Dec. 7. This performance marked the first time that Downbeat ended their trip at this venue. The group sang acapella versions of holiday classics like “Jingle Bell Rock” and renditions of popular Christmas carols with a new spin, like “The 12 Days of Christmas Confusion.” Junior Simon Kirjner also sang a solo of “You Will Be Found” from the musical Dear Evan Hansen.

Simon, who usually performs vocal percussion, auditioned for the solo to try a new position other than his current one. For his solo performance, he trained sophomore Jessica Skylar Chen to take on his old role and arranged Downbeat’s musical accompaniment.

“I made the parts more intricate and rhythmically interesting for Downbeat,” Simon said. “Now the bass, tenors and altos have to be in agreement when it comes to the pitches, the tunes and the rhythms. Then, the sopranos have their countermelodies to the solo. Once all these parts work together, then you have a good sounding work that could be put on the stage.”

The group performed across the Bay Area, starting at the Transitional Kindergarten campus, before moving on to Coterie Senior Living, the GLIDE memorial church and finally the Ferry Building in San Francisco before returning to the South Bay for their final performance.

Before performing, Jessica felt a bit nervous because it was her first time performing for Downbeat and trying out vocal percussion. 

“I was really scared that I wouldn’t be able to uphold Simon’s reputation,” Jessica said. “It was a bit awkward at first, but everybody is really nice, and I’m thankful that we get to go on tour because it brings all of us together.”

Senior Shruti Srinivasan found the final venue to be a satisfying end to the tour, as the festivity and bustle of the tree lighting allowed her to rejoice in the overall holiday atmosphere of the show even more.

“It was amazing because there’s an audience all around, even behind the stage, it’s just so lively,” Shruti said. “You can see all the kids, how they’re enjoying the holidays, and it’s so fun to perform because we have such an interactive audience.”