Ever since practices began back in September, Christmas concerts have been at the forefront for the members of Yellow Point Singers who once again this year are performing two concerts for the public, as well as entertaining seniors at Wexford Lodge.
The artistic director, Doug Roszmann, along with a team of choir members, selected the program of music back in June (when Christmas seemed so far away) to allow time for new music to be purchased and processed into their extensive library. After weeks of Wednesday evening practices, along with a full day of intensive preparation in early November, the choir is feeling confident that their hard work has paid off and that the upcoming concerts will offer a variety of musical styles along with some family entertainment.
Roszmann, along with the co-director Ainslee Young and the accompanist Sharyn Andruski-Collins have worked diligently with choir members to offer a wide variety of music for these concerts. The choir will perform a couple of traditional Christmas songs written or arranged by Kirby Shaw, a familiar name amongst choral music enthusiasts, and will contrast those with more jazzy, swing-style numbers. Seasonal songs from other lands also appear on the programme: one from France and one from Haiti as well as an arrangement of the Huron Carol by Gail Lund from Gabriola Island. And to keep everyone happy, there is even the very well-known Hockey Song!
The first concert took place Dec. 7 at Christ Community Church in Nanaimo, and the second concert is coming up this Sunday, Dec. 14 at 2:30 p.m. at Oceanview Community Church at 381 Davis Rd. in Ladysmith. For this concert, the choir's guests will be the British Columbia Boys Choir (Nanaimo) under the direction of Patricia Plumley, who will be on tour with local tenor Ken Lavigne during the early part of December.
Both concerts are entitled "A Winter Choral Celebration," and each one will be followed by an informal reception after the performance. Tickets are $10 each or $20 for a family. So gather your friends and loved-ones together and join Yellow Point Singers and their guests for an afternoon of festive cheer.
— Submitted