Halfway through the show, as intermission ended and the lights came back on, members of the El Camino College Chorale, who unbeknown to the surprised audience had assembled on the second floor of the Marsee Auditorium, began singing.

The Holiday Choral Extravaganza concert, a two-hour-long celebration of Christmas music hosted in the Marsee Auditorium Dec. 1, was full of surprises.

Another surprise of the night came from Director of Choral and Orchestral Activities Joanna Medawar Nachef, who changed into three different dresses throughout the night.

The show opened with her wearing a red dress and after the intermission she changed into a black dress. During the final act of the night, Nachef arrived in a shiny and glittery ensemble.

“I needed to bring some Christmas bling to the performance and wake you all up,” Nachef said, explaining her third and final outfit for the night.

For over 25 years now, the music holiday show at El Camino has been led by Nachef.

Nachef, who immigrated to the United States from Lebanon in 1976, has been a full-time professor at El Camino since 1996 and has directed every holiday choir event since.

“I was a student myself at El Camino College in 1977,” Nachef said, “20 years before I started working here.”

Choir groups included in the show were the Concert Choir, Women’s Chorus and Chorale. The members of the choir groups are all El Camino students.

Choir members run the gamut in term of age and experience. During rehearsals for the event, some members spoke with The Union, including concert choir tenor Hamid Ala, 44.

“I have been a student at El Camino College since 1998 obtaining four different degrees and I have been singing since I was a little boy in London, England,” Ala said.

Another concert choir tenor is Abishai Smith, 24, a general music major.

“I am excited to be singing in this event and I started getting interested in singing in my freshman year of high school,” Smith said.

The rehearsal was split up between the different choir groups.

Come showtime on Friday, Dec. 1, there was a large audience including some family members of the choir, who shouted their names at the end.

Some of the holiday songs performed included “Keep Your Lamps,” “Let it Snow,” “Carol of the Bells.” Some songs had the choir members singing in Latin.

During the show, Nachef shared with the audience that this semester had been a difficult one due to the death of concert choir member, Mikael Ramos Barbosa.

Barbosa died during the seven weeks of practice before the concert. The second song of the night, “Psallite,” was dedicated to Barbosa.

Other stand out moments from the show included the performance of the gospel song “Children, Go Where I Send Thee” which included a rap verse by chorale tenor Vincent Edralin.

The Women’s Choir sang a second rendition of “Carol of the Bells” in the Ukrainian language.

Some of the choir members included students coming back to study music after spending years in other professions, such as former aerospace employee Jackie Kim.

“My parents were musicians and I always loved singing but [I] ended up working for 30 years in aerospace, now I am getting back into music,” Kim said.

Kim said Holiday performances are always a joy and a highlight.

“I love singing Christmas music and all the energy we share with each other in the choir,” Kim said.