Notelove holiday sing-along brings cheer to community youth
December 15, 2022
Surrounded by thick black curtains, the twinkling of lights on Christmas trees shone even brighter on the faces of jovial students and families at the Notelove organization’s holiday sing-along on Wednesday evening.
Hosted at the Coppell High School Black Box, the concert showcased 16 student performances, including five performed by Notelove instructors. Students and instructors dressed in holiday attire––reindeer antlers, Santa hats and ugly Christmas sweaters; parents were provided percussion instruments such as jingle bells, sleigh bells and tambourines and encouraged to sing along.
The event was Notelove’s second time hosting a community concert, the first being in May.
“With all said and done, everything went really smoothly,” CHS junior intern director Akanksha Subbarao said. “The students did a really great job. They’ve grown a lot, with respect to how they were in the spring. The confidence has definitely grown, and I think we all had more fun this time.”
The DFW chapter of Notelove, a 501(c) certified non-profit aiming to provide free music education to youth, was started in spring of 2020 by CHS senior Nivi Anandaraj, and is now headed by a board of directors comprised of CHS Band senior percussionists Destiny Wang, Claire Wang, Megha Pazhayidathu, Matthew Tindoc, Ashley Zhang and Anandaraj.
As the initial founders entered their senior year at the beginning of the fall semester, they begun a new intern director program in order to carry the chapter past their own graduation date.
“My favorite thing about Notelove is definitely the community that we’ve been able to build,” said Pazhayidathu, Notelove’s marketing director. “Getting to meet with parents and getting to meet with students at these annual recitals is a great way I’ve been able to interact with the Coppell community.”
Boasting an ever-increasing number of students and instructors, Notelove’s web is constantly expanding. This night was no different, and the concert was accordingly lively. Warm voices of audience members singing along to familiar songs such as “All I Want For Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey and “Feliz Navidad” filled the cold air.
As the concert concluded and students and instructors gathered to pose for a group photo, the heart-warming spirit was clear to audience member Venessa Gutierrez, whose son Nathan Soto performed “Up on the Housetop” on guitar accompanied by Destiny Wang earlier in the night.
“Seeing [Nathan] experience music is just enlightening,” Gutierrez said. “It encourages you to try different things, to overcome being nervous. It’s really an incredible skill.”
Follow Saniya Koppikar (@SaniyaKoppikar) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.
