The Lehighton Area Middle School Music Department will present its annual holiday program tonight in the high school auditorium. Snow date is Wednesday.

The fifth- and sixth-grade groups will begin at 6:30 p.m. The seventh- and eighth-grade band and choirs will begin at 7:45 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.The Jazz Ensemble will begin the program with "I'll Be Home for Christmas," featuring a solo by eighth-grader Aidan Malloy. Next, the jazz ensemble will perform "Deckin' the Hall." Ethan Malkowicz, Dylan Coffin and Spencer Perkins will be featured on this number.The jazz ensemble is under the direction of Thomas Weidner.The fifth- and sixth-grade band, under the direction of Weidner, will perform "A Winter's Sleigh Ride," as well as a challenging arrangement of the French carol "Patapan."The final selection will be a rock-inspired arrangement of a traditional carol called "Rockin' OL' St. Nick."The Treble Chorale, consisting of fifth- and sixth-graders under Weidner's direction, will conclude the first half of the program with "Goin' on a Sleigh Ride." The chorus will also perform two originals, "Candle in the Night" and "Winter Starlight." The Treble Chorale will conclude its portion of the program with the Brenda Lee classic, "Rockin' Around the Christmas tree."The seventh- and eighth-grade concert band, under the direction of Beth Perkins, will perform the spunky "Troika Rushing" by Timothy Johnson. Next, Abby Hoppes, Aaron Bauer, and Madeline Tonkin will be featured on "Huron Indian Carol." For their final selection, the band will perform "And to All a Goodnight," which is a blend of several traditional carols, and feature eighth-grader Hannah Dorward on bass clarinet.The seventh- and eighth-grade portion of the program will continue with the show choir, Music Express Junior, under the direction of Laura Welkey, which will open with "Jingle Bells Rock!" Music Express Junior will also perform "Shoulda Been a North Pole Elf" and "Santa's Crazy Reindeer." Eighth-graders Aleah Nothstein, Justine Nidlund and John DeMatte will perform solos on this final selection.The Choraliers, the seventh- and eighth-grade chorus, under the direction of Welkey, will conclude the concert. They will open their portion of the program with a John Ness Beck piece called "Lullaby." "The Little Cradle Rocked" and "Bidi Bom" will be their next two selections. Their final two selections, "Jingle Bells (Sort Of)" and "The Twelve Days After Christmas" employ comedic devices to give a fresh take on two traditional Christmas carols. Calvin Maholick, an eighth-grader, will accompany the chorus on "Lullaby" and "Bidi Bom."