KZSM Presents Kissing Alley Holiday Concert
This Thursday, Dec. 15, from 7-9 p.m., KZSM celebrates the holiday season with our final Kissing Alley concert of the year. Fine arts students from the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District will display their talent and dedication with a variety of musical performances throughout the evening.
The amazing Miller Middle School Jazz Band will open the evening. Under the direction of Hector Ramirez, the group won first place this year in the middle school division at the 54th Annual Jazz Festival at Texas A&M at Kingsville.
Students from Crockett Elementary Music and Theatre, directed by music teacher Kirsten Boyd, will present excerpts from their upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz. “This group has been putting on successful musicals with huge talent for years,” SMCISD Arts Coordinator David Underwood observes. The complete show will run for two weekends, Feb. 24-25, and March 3-4.
Students and staff from the Fine Arts program at San Marcos High School have collaborated on a production of “The Little Mermaid,” “a show like no other to come out of our SMHS before. This will be an all-out, all-school musical production, with a pit orchestra for the first time since the new high school building was completed” Underwood explains. Tommie Jackson, SMHS’s new Theatre Arts Director, will highlight excerpts from the show. The full production will run Jan. 19 to 22.
Also, four very talented musicians from the SMHS Orchestra will perform as a string quartet. The Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Gabriel Balderama, earned Sweepstakes awards at the 2022 UIL. To enjoy the full orchestra, catch their Winter Concert Wednesday, December 14, at 6 p.m. at the SMHS Performing Arts Center.
The SMHS Mariachi Nuevo Cascabel, a San Marcos favorite, will provide a rousing finale to the evening. This highly acclaimed and award-winning group under Director Juan Cavazos performs both old and new mariachi favorites. For this holiday season, they are performing December 8 at Sights and Sounds of Christmas and December 14 at the high school, in addition to Kissing Alley.
KZSM began presenting free Kissing Alley Concerts in 2017, our first year. The San Marcos Arts Commission has generously funded six events this year, and thanks to them, we’ll offer six more next year, beginning in March. Alex Winters and local favorites Dr. G. and the Mudcats are already scheduled to perform. Watch this space for more.
