The Choir Halloween Costume Contest

Every year, we have a Halloween costume contest in which members dress up according to our repertoire. That's right. Whichever song suits your fancy, you dress up as that song. At the end of the contest, the choir votes on their favorite disguises! Without further ado, here are the contestants!

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Our first batch of costume contenders dressed up to "Der Gärtner" and "Gesang aus Fingal (Ossian)," both by Johannes Brahms. Two out of a bundle of four songs written by the German composer, "Der Gärtner" is the piteous tale of a shy gardener in love, and the latter is a lamentation for the ghost of King Trenar, and, as you can see, there are four ghosts and two timid gardeners. 

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These costumes are inspired by David Conte's arrangement of "La Bruja," a Mexican folk song about a witch who steals young children and turns them into little pumpkins.

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Although the horse mask might be a bit frightening, the song that these costumes come from is not a spooky one. "Jubilee," by Sally Lamb McCune, is a rambunctious piece written in the point of view of a vivacious woman dancing with her lover. Throughout the piece, there are mentions of coffee, white oak, the sea, an old gray horse, and sewing one's lover to one's side... maybe that is a bit gory.

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These two adorable, matching costumes are modeled after "I Wish You Peace" by Nicole Dieker.

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Paul Mealor's "Autumn Evening" is the song that inspired these two outfits. After all, it is the season for falling leaves. What about the footsteps? They represent the "passing feet."

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These members of the choir drew inspiration from our massive collection of school songs, "For Our Wellesley," arranged by Alyssa Kayser-Hirsch '13. For the alumnae out there, if you remember the songs, perhaps you can pick out the lines fitting each choir bee's costume.

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Here is a punny throwback for the Choir. Our three Graces took the line from "This Little Light of Mine," arranged by Clifton J. Noble, Jr., which declares that on Thursday the Lord gave "me a little more grace."

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Although this is a piece we have not yet performed, these three choir bees did an exquisite job crafting the paper cranes from Abbie Betinis' "A Blessing of Cranes." If you look closely, you can see the little paper cranes in their hair and on their clothing.

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With all of these incredible costumes, it was difficult for us to come to a consensus. However, after many rounds of cider and Halloween candy, we ultimately decided upon our three victors. Congratulations to Angela Coco '19 for her rendition of King Trenar's ghost, Christina Buffo '19 for the shy, sad Gärtner, and Khanh An Vu '19 for her DIY paper crane headdress!

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Although the officers were not in the running for the costume contest, we would like to leave you with this gem. The six of us and Dr. Graham dressed up as the constituent parts of "Sweet Betsy from Pike." As you can see, Dr. Graham ended up being the priest who marries Ike (Alexandra) and Betsy (Cayla) as their bacon (Keertana), oxen (Rachel and Julia), "old yaller dog" (Rebecca), and tall Shanghai rooster (Patricia) watch on. Happy Halloween!