A new choir, led by Vernon’s Paul Moore, is making its concert debut with Do You Hear What I Hear?, Wednesday at All Saints Anglican Church.
The so far nameless choir has been rehearsing every Tuesday night and have prepared a number of Christmas favourites, including Silent Night, Angel Gabriel, O Little Town of Bethlehem and Hark The Herald Angels Sing, to perform. Some of the members will also sing solos.
“Building a choir means lots of hard work and getting enough singers to fill all the parts, but to my surprise it hasn’t felt like hard work at all,” said Moore. “We have worked on lots of vocal technique, lots of musical concepts, and mostly we have fostered a positive attitude and taken an active roll in becoming a cohesive group.”
The choir will also share the stage with Moore at this concert, but in future shows they will take centre stage for their own performances and he will conduct.
“They are a good group and I look forward to giving them the spotlight. They deserve it,” said Moore.
The operatic tenor will take the stage himself to perform classics such as Ave Maria, Jesu Bambino, and Panis Angelicus.
“I am always amazed at the reaction people have to these songs,” he said. “They love these songs and the emotional experience they have while watching and listening to them being sung.”
Moore will also get into a swingin’ kind of mood to perform more modern and popular classics.
“There is also a group of songs I’ve added that I love to sing,” he said. “They are songs I would consider movie classics, maybe sung by Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra, like I’ll be Home for Christmas. And then there is the more popular side with Mary Did you Know and Feliz Navidad.”
Accompanying both the choir and Moore will be Kelowna pianist Sandra Fletcher.
Wednesday’s concert starts at 8 p.m. at All Saints, 3205 27th St. Tickets are $22/adult, $20/senior 60-plus, $15/student under 18, available at the Ticket Seller, 549-7469, ticketseller.ca.
