By Arianna Bekas
Every year Epcot hosts a truly beautiful and festive event during December to ring in the holidays. Filled with joyous music performed by top honor choirs’ and a celebrity to read the one and only Christmas Story, Candlelight never fails to disappoint. With the singers dressed in extravagant robes, singing songs perfected down to the very last note, that will leave a sense of spirituality and joviality in the days that follow the performance. Candlelight is truly a spectacle to behold, and Apopka High School is one of the few choirs’ that are selected for participation in the procession. The work that comes with Candlelight never goes unnoticed and the impact that it leaves on all who witness and all who are able to participate is everlasting.
Mr. Powers is one of the Chorus teachers at Apopka High School and he has been helping the choir prep for Candlelight this year. When asked to give some background information on Candlelight Mr. Powers replied. “Candlelight is an event that take place at Epcot and it is from the end of November to the beginning of January. It is a really neat event because the students get to go to Disney and they get to sing with a couple of other choir’s, with The Voices of Liberty, with a Disney cast choir, and with a very professional Disney orchestra. Then there is always a celebrity narrator. This year when we go we get to have Neil Patrick Harris for two nights, which is pretty exciting.” Mr. Powers also talked about what it took for Apopka to be able to get into the performance. “We had to sing two Candlelight excerpts and we had to make sure that every detail was one hundred percent ready to go. Because it is a competitive process to be in honor choir. So we made sure that everything was clean and had the correct emotion and all that.” Mr. Powers then went on to explain that even though there are other high schools participating Apopka High is one of the select few who will be performing with honor choirs’ “I think this year there are only seventeen honor choirs, and we are one of the seventeen.” Mr. Powers also discussed the type of songs that will be performed. “The songs we sing pretty much stay the same, they might have one or two that change every couple of years, but it’s mostly Christmas songs because it’s The Christmas Story. So it’s like the traditional Christmas songs with a little bit of a twist because they have these cool harmonies and there is the orchestra part and they kind of embellish the music.” Mr. Powers’ favorite candlelight song would be O Come All Ye Faithful. “They do a really cool version of it.” This year Mr. Powers is looking forward to two things during this year’s Candlelight Procession. “One I am looking forward to having fun with the students and kind of bonding and having that experience. Then two is Neil Patrick Harris because I think he is really awesome.” (But then again who doesn’t think Neil Patrick Harris is awesome.) Mr. Powers was a part of Candlelight during his four years of high school and it was his favorite experience, and as a student, the bonding qualities of Candlelight really resonated with him. But now as a teacher, he wishes for the same qualities that resonated with him, to resonate with the students as well.
Jeffery Laux is a senior at Apopka High school and he has been participating in candlelight all four years of his high school experience. “Candlelight is a processional that is brought to Orlando by Disney, and thousands of people go each and every year. It’s just a blast. They have early afternoon shows, and late shows and Apopka always makes honor choir so we get to choose which ones we are going to do and we get to play in the park on one of our times that we go and it’s honestly just a blast to hang out with people around central Florida and sing Christmas music.” Jefferey’s favorite thing about Candlelight is being able to enjoy the Christmas music with different people, and also all the people who come out to watch them sing about Jesus. Jeff also feels that everyone should take time out to go and see Candlelight. A quality that resonates with Jeff would be the consistency. “It’s consistent every year. Same tone, same bowels, same songs and I want to be as consistent as that. Because being consistent in life is key because if you’re not consistent you don’t do things the right way.”
Mrs. Schafer is another chorus teacher here at Apopka High School. Like Mr. Powers, Mrs. Schafer also participated in Candlelight during her high school years and is now happy to give back to the students so they too can enjoy the same magical experience. Mrs. Schafer describes candlelight as “The Christmas story that is put on by Walt Disney World, and they hire a celebrity narrator who tells the story in between the songs. So our choir goes and sings in the show, the narrator tells the story in between, there is a professional orchestra, and people wait in line for hours to come and watch this show.” Mrs. Schafer also described the sort of work that the Apopka Choir has to put into candlelight. “We submit an audition back in September, and we prepped two songs that Disney tells us we have to prep. We send that in and then in October we found out that we were in honor choir. So now we have to learn eleven songs and three processionals. So it is fourteen songs that they have to learn from memory in a month and a half.” Keep in mind that they really only practice in class and own their own time. The choir does do one afterschool practice right before they go to Disney. But other than that, the practicing is mostly on their own time. Which goes to show the astounding dedication that these choir students possess. Mrs. Schafers is looking forward to the student’s reactions this year at Candlelight. “It’s fun to see the new kids, who have never done Candlelight before. Then it is also fun to see the Juniors come back because its like Ahh I remember this from last year. And it’s not new but it’s re-excitement. Then the Seniors, it’s fun to watch them because it’s their last time doing it. So its almost nostalgic for them and they are soaking up all of the moment. So that’s my favorite part. To see all the emotional connection that each level has with it.”
Candlelight is a beautiful spectacle that everyone should have the chance to behold. The amount of dedication, effort, and stamina that these students have to be able to sing to the level of perfection that Disney requires, deserves an award. The magic that is within Candlelight seems to come less from the season of Christmas and more from the beauty of the choirs. 
Candlelight is definitely a show that you do not want to miss and if you do have the opportunity to attend, you most definitely should. And if beautifully put together songs, paired with a professional orchestra is not enough for you, keep in mind that the celebrity host is going to be Neil Patrick Harris and then get back to us.