Elk Point and District Community Choir’s annual gift of Christmas music was delivered by a crew of 53 singers, two directors, four pianists and one page turner on Friday night, with an excellent crowd on hand at the all-dressed-up-for-the-season Elk Point Arts and Leisure Centre for the annual concert.
The choir started off with an a capella number, “Let the Music Dance,” before Deanna Easthope took her place at the piano and Dixie Coleman took her place at the microphone for the solos that highlighted a 16th century Spanish lullaby, “A La Puerta del Cielo.”
The next number saw Barb Buryn take over the piano bench and Coleman move to the director’s podium, taking over for Udo Mueller as he tapped out the rhythm of “And the Angels Sang” on the conga drum. Mueller and Easthope were back to lead the choir in “Child of the Poor,” an arrangement featuring the ladies of the choir, singing the familiar strains of “What Child is This?” The first set wound up with “Live My Life For Love” before the ladies left the stage and Mueller took over the piano to lead the men in the up-tempo “Goin’ to Bethlehem.”
Mueller also had his opportunity to join in the singing, teaming up with Coleman, Sheila Hatch and Stephen Booth for “No Room at the Inn,” with Easthope at the piano.
Booth was next on the program with a powerful solo of the always lovely “O Holy Night,” with Mueller accompanying, while Linda Peters accompanied the next soloist, Donna Johnson in a lighthearted song of the season, “Come on, Ring Those Bells,” and a musical medley by cellist Erica Spoeth
The fun escalated in the next number, Mueller declaring, “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!” and donning a mistletoe-equipped Santa hat, while Coleman alternated sneezes with the lyrics, “This Snow’s Gotta Go!” with Sheila Hatch accompanying.
Barb Buryn and Mabel Gottenbos led the audience in a brief carol sing, which has become a tradition with the choir. The ladies of the choir then returned with a tuneful salute to the all-time favourite Christmas decoration, caroling, “O Christmas Tree,” before the men joined them for the final set of the evening.
Both Peters and Easthope were at the keyboard for the demanding finger-work that added the dancing notes of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” to “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” Another classical favourite, J. S. Bach’s Prelude in C Major” was a brilliant pairing, incorporated into “Silent Night.”
Coleman directed, Mueller was back on the conga and Caitlin Tazzer added the rhythm of the shaker to “River Song,” before Mueller gave his pre-Christmas message. The choir has performed for appreciative audiences in Bonnyville, Beauvallon, Vermilion and St. Paul this season, and “found the same warmth” when they toured the British Isles this summer. One highlight of the trip was an unscheduled seven-hour stopover in Toronto, which sparked “a spontaneous rehearsal in a deserted airport” in the early morning hours, while they waited for a replacement aircraft with functioning washrooms. Mueller thanked the pianists, page turner Elizabeth Orr, wardrobe coordinator Shirley Osinchuk, set coordinator Blaine Easthope, record keeper Louise Kurash and sound and lights man Rob Walker for their ongoing efforts, and the choir “for the commitment to quality performances.”
In closing, Mueller invited the crowd to snap their fingers in unison with the choir as they sang “Shine a Little Light,” incorporating “This Little Light of Mine” and a solo by Booth, with Buryn at the piano.