Throughout the month of December, the MacArthur Winter Wind Ensemble continued its long-standing tradition of holiday concerts in and around the Levittown community. From school board meetings, shopping malls and high school hallways, the group shared the gift of wonderful holiday music to all who heard them play.

Under the direction of Mr. Joseph Romano, the Winter Wind Ensemble is an extra-curricular group comprised of some of the best woodwind players that MacArthur High School has to offer. The ensemble began practices back in October to prepare a repertoire of more than two dozen winter holiday selections.

The Winter Wind Ensemble performed exceptionally well at each of their three events this season. Their first concert took place on Wednesday, December 4 in the auditorium of the Levittown Memorial Education Center just before the meeting of the Levittown Board of Education. The Winter Wind Ensemble earned a rousing ovation from the audience after playing a half-hour long set of music for parents, teachers, administrators and members of the Board of Education. To close out this performance, Mr. Romano continued a long-standing Winter Wind Ensemble tradition by inviting the entire audience to accompany the ensemble by jingling car keys, jewelry and spare change along to the ensemble's rendition of Jingle Bells.

The second Winter Wind Ensemble performance of the season took place on Thursday, December 12 at Broadway Commons in Hicksville. The ensemble played joyfully for parents, friends and family as well as the numerous holiday shoppers and mall employees who stopped to listen. A feature of this concert was Mr. Romano's arrangement of the Christmas classic, The Little Drummer Boy. The performance featured impressive clarinet solos played by senior, Marissa Paredes.

On Friday, December 20, the Winter Wind Ensemble closed out its season with another of its holiday traditions - their annual "passing period" performances. For this event, the ensemble serenaded students, faculty and staff alike with "mini concerts" as they made their way through the halls in between classes.

This year's Winter Wind Ensemble was led by some talented musicians including seniors Antonio Vargas on bassoon; Elena Hakim, Cecilia Rodriguez and Wafa Siddiqui on flute; Marissa Paredes on clarinet; and Vincent McCormack on percussion.