The 32nd annual Mass Choir concert, Cranbrook’s largest vocal event, moved over to the Alliance Church this year for the first time.
Organizers said the event had become so popular that greater seating capacity was needed, and certainly every seat in the 1,000-seat church was filled.
The Mass Choir is composed of 350 students from all nine of Cranbrook’s elementary schools, and featured a selection of carols interspersed with readings from the gospels.
Arranging the choir on the stage of the church was no mean feat — organizers and students spent all of Wednesday morning at the task, but the intricate logistics were solved so that the layered entrance of the hundreds of singers went off without a hitch.
Alliance Church volunteers were also at work in the parking lots — no small feat of logistics in itself. Hundreds of cars filled up the church parking lot, both sides of nearby streets and even across Kootenay Street into the ball diamond parking areas.
Conductors for the event were: Patti Radies, Christina Blaskovich, Scott Martin, Carla Erichsen, Kim Lutz and Larry Dureski. Nancy Dyck was the piano accompanist, and Brent Reimer of School District 5 served as Master of Ceremonies.
Organizers sent out a special thank you to Cranbrook’s elementary music teachers and their assistants for the many hours of volunteer work.
The event was a fundraiser for the Salvation Army, collecting $1,112.
