Catasauqua Middle School hosted its winter chorus concert Dec. 18.

Chorus instructor Mark Schultheis led performances by the fifth- and sixth-grade choir and the seventh- and eighth-grade choir. Friends and family of the students who sang filled the middle school auditorium to hear holiday and winter-themed songs - and even sing along to a few Christmas classics as well.

The fifth- and sixth-grade choir - which consists of 31 students - began its show with a simple vocal warm-up. Schultheis included the students’ favorite warm-up, where they go up and down the scale singing “Pizza is great. I can’t believe how much I ate.”

Whatever nerves or anxiety the kids had about singing in front of an audience seemed to totally disappear after that.

They sang a couple of well-known holiday songs like “Dreidel, Dreidel” and Chuck Berry’s “Run, Rudolph, Run.” However, the clear favorite for all the kids both on stage and in the audience was “Santa Claus, Santa Claus,” a comic Christmas carol that repeats the chorus “Santa Claus, Santa Claus, you are much too fat!” The music sounded great, but most importantly, all of the students on stage had a great time.

After that came the seventh- and eighth-grade choir. With only 20 students in total, Schultheis explained this has been the smallest group he has ever had. Despite its size, this choir had no lack of energy or enthusiasm.

The seventh- and eighth-grade performance included a medley of songs from the film “Nightmare Before Christmas,” complete with all the solo lines and witch cackling from the movie.

At the conclusion of both performances, the student choirs led their audiences in a Christmas singalong to “Frosty the Snowman,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Schultheis lauded everyone’s participation, saying that performance was the first time he could stop singing along and let the audience take over. Clearly, the Christmas spirit was in the air.