T’is the season and the Eclectica Community Choir is ready to ring it in with their 2019 Christmas concert. The concert is titled Gettin’ In The Mood For Christmas, which is also one of their song selections.
The concert is a fundraiser with proceeds from donations going to Loaves and Fishes and the 100 Mile Food Bank.
The group is a true village choral group, says Rick Meyer, spokesperson for the choir.
“We currently enjoy the participation of approximately 50 members, ranging in age from nine to 85, with a full complement of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices. We welcome, and depend on, community participation. Our membership is open to anyone wishing to sing with us.”
The choir continues with Barbara Hooper as lead director, after Marilyn Buyar stepped down in 2018, and Melissa Hermiston and Cathryn Aune as assistant directors, supported by the piano accompaniment of Donna Forward-Houriet.
“In keeping with our choir name, our program on Dec. 8 will entail an entertaining, varied selection of choral pieces, accompanied also by several ensemble pieces performed as well by our choir members. In our ongoing devotion to diversity, our audience will again find that we have a mix of music in language and culture,” says Meyer.
Meyer highlighted the following pieces:
Gettin’ in the Mood for Christmas – written by Brian Setzer and Michael Himelstein, with music by Joseph Garland; you can be sure “Gettin’ in the Mood” will elevate you into the holidays on the wave of its jazz/swing big band beat.
The Prayer is a popular, sweetly musical devotion written in honour of the innocence of children by David Foster, et al, and first performed by Celine Dion with Andrea Bocelli.
Down in the River to Pray is a traditional, deeply moving, African-American spiritual celebrating the ritual of baptism and believed by some to be a subtle, coded testament to emancipation and freedom in their escape from slavery via southern waterways.
Do You Hear What I Hear, written and composed by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne, utilizes the story of the Nativity of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Matthew. It was composed in 1962 as a plea for peace during the USA-Cuban missile crisis.
What Sweeter Music – a complexly evoked spiritual anthem, is the work of the noted composer, John Rutter, who has been described as “the most celebrated and successful composer of carols today.”
“This is but a taste of what we’ll be offering – there will be much more, including audience sing-alongs of several carols! We welcome all, and look forward to sharing this afternoon of music and communion within the spirit of this 100 Mile House Christmas season.”
The performance will be on Sunday, Dec. 8 in Martin Exeter Hall. Doors will open at 1:15 p.m. Forward-Houriet, will sing and play from 1:30 to 2 p.m. The concert performance will run from 2 to 4 p.m.
