The Rockbridge Chorus, directed by William McCorkle, will present its annual Holiday Concert at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday, Dec. 6, in the Lexington Presbyterian Church.
The event is part of the 50th anniversary celebratory year of the chorus. Joining the chorus for part of the performance will be the Rockbridge Youth Chorale, directed by Lacey Lynch and Katelyn Roll.
As in previous years, the evening will begin with a community carol sing at 7:15 p.m.
“Sharing this tradition of singing with, and performing for, our wonderful community audience is a treasured experience for the chorus,” said McCorkle. “It is a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season,. We’re delighted to have the Youth Chorale join us once again.”
Over the years, this concert has become one of the community’s best loved and most cherished traditions. But while this event may seem to many people to have existed “forever,” the December Holiday Concert has not always been a part of Rockbridge Chorus concert season.
The chorus, established in 1975 with the Rockbridge Orchestra, enjoyed well over a decade of shared performances, in which each ensemble presented half of the program, while occasionally combining forces for some repertoire.
Said founding chorus alto (and orchestra flutist) Alice Williams, “There were three programs during the season, usually November, March and May. The spring program was always a ‘pops’ concert. For a time we gave two performances of each program, one in Lexington and another in the county or in Buena Vista, usually at schools.”
McCorkle picked up the story: “When, in the late 1980s, the orchestra was taken into the music department at Washington and Lee, the chorus increased its work to offer three full programs of its own. I think that’s when we began to have a December program, usually at VMI’s Jackson Memorial Hall. At some point we incorporated audience carol singing.”
After the reopening in 2003 of the restored sanctuary at Lexington Presbyterian Church following the disastrous fire of July 2000, the chorus brought the December programs to the church, where they have taken place ever since.
-This year’s concert includes choral favorites from recent years as well as a number of pieces new to many in the group. Repertoire will include compositions on Christmas and winter texts, and a wide array of carol settings.
Joining in the directors in leading the singers will be chorus associate conductor Scott Williamson, and college student conducting interns Kailesh Amilcar, Paris Guerrero, Maggie Eaton, and John Paul Hammond.
Pianists for the evening will be Anna Billias, Amilcar and McCorkle. Percussionist Bill Zheng will bring alive the evening’s music making. Vocal soloists will include soprano Christine Fairfield; tenors Scott Williamson and Adam Williams; baritones Charles Blueweiss and David Sorrells.; and chorus sopranos Jessica LaPrice, Anne Sauder, Melissa Holland, Maia Browning Olsen and Sarah Swett.
The chorus repertoire for the concert includes 21st century pieces which are well on the way to becoming classics: Stephen Paulus’ luxurious arrangement of “We Gather Together,” Ola Gjeilo’s hypnotic “The Rose,” Emerson Sieverts’ harmonically imaginative a cappella setting of “Good King Wenceslas,” and Matthew Culloton’s exuberant “Make We Joy Now in This Fest,” for chorus with several soloists.
Works from the 20th century tradition include Randall Thompson’s tone poem on words of Robert Frost “Choose Something Like a Star,” the perennial favorite, Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria,” ’Canadian composer Stephen Chatman’s sleek setting of Shakespeare’s “Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind,” and, with soloists Fairfield and Williamson, Harold Darke’s (the other) musical rendering of Christina Rossetti’s famous “In the Bleak Midwinter,” known as “the other” great musical setting of this text. The chorus, with soloists Fairfield and Williams, reclaims William McCorkle’s setting of “Found,” a text by the late Charlotte Gunn, longtime Lexington resident. The women of the chorus, led by soloists from their midst, will sing Harrison Oxley’s exquisite setting of the Irish lullaby carol, “Mater Ora Filium.”
The children’s choir of the Rockbridge Youth Chorale will sing the humorous “No School Tomorrow (If It Snows)” by Jay Althouse. The youth choir of the RYC will offer two pieces: “Joy in Jerusalem,” a traditional medley celebrating the promise of peace; and the well-known “Carol of the Bells,” by Leontovich. The youth choir and third through fifth grade singers of the children’s choir will sing Leonard Bernstein’s vibrant “Gloria Tibi,” with tenor Williamson, and percussionist Zheng.
The RC and RYC singers will collaborate on three pieces: the exuberant Kenyan Nativity song “Natufurahi Siku Ya Leo,” the humorous novelty song, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” and Rick and Sylvia Powell’s soothing “Peace, Peace,” a partner song for “Silent Night.”
“What has become a signature feature of the program is that we invite the audience to sing with us,” McCorkle said. “It is exhilarating for me and the other conductors to lead the whole crowd in song.”
In addition to the caroling preceding the concert, the audience is invited to join in a number of carols at intervals throughout the evening. Singers and audience members alike consider the event a “launch” of their holiday celebration.
Advance tickets for the performance can be purchased online from the Rockbridge Choral Society website at rcs. org for $12.50 per person and $35 for immediate family. Tickets will also be available at the door for $15 per person and $40 for immediate family.
The Rockbridge Chorus and the Rockbridge Youth Chorale are part of the Rockbridge Choral Society, which receives support form area individuals, businesses, and organizations. For more information, call (540) 4609650.
