GIHS students head to Disney World for candlelight processional performance

Students to perform in Disney’s holiday spectacular at EPCOT

Submitted

Grand Island High School choral students will travel to Florida this week to participate in Disney World's candlelight processional as part of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays. GIHS students will head to Florida from Friday, Dec. 13, to Monday, Dec. 16.

"After auditioning last spring, Grand Island choral students were accepted to be part of this legendary Disney Epcot holiday spectacular," GIHS choral director Jennifer Mernitz said.

The candlelight processional is a Disney tradition that brings together music and storytelling to celebrate the holiday spirit. The GIHS students will perform alongside a full orchestra, a massed choir, and celebrity narrators to bring the story of Christmas to life.

Mernitz said the students have prepared by learning 14 songs and will join Disney professionals and other students from across the country in a Disney production. She called the trip “an incredible opportunity" for the students.

Participating students include: Gabriella Amato, Lydia Amato, Anthony Borzillieri, Emma Chorey, Hailey Donovan, Hayden Garey, Emily Goss, Jaymee Gray, Linzy Gray, Malcolm Hannibal, Emma Hartwick, Kellen Hernandez, Katie Hoyt, Elijah Huber, Nicholas Jayme, Liam Kineke, Jayden Kleinschmidt, Sienna Lenze, Annabelle Linenfelser, Gianna Masker, Moses McMurray, Claire Neuhaus, Lauren Olendorf, Alejandro Perez, Gwendolyn Pickering, Kaitlyn Powell, Jack Roth, Sienna Sarkees, Ava Satterlee, Jordin Tanner, Zachary Vinkle, Kaitlyn Wadman, Brooke Warner and Kayleigh Wheaton.

According to the Disney World website, celebrity narrator Gary Sinise will tell the Christmas story with music sung by a Mass choir and performed by a 50-piece live orchestra. Sinise is an Academy Award-nominated actor and a winner of an Emmy Award and a Tony Award.

The event, held in the America Gardens Theatre, is performed from Nov. 29 through Dec. 30.