The Community Chorus at South Berwick will present its 35th annual Christmas concert in two performances on December 5 and 6. The 60-voice mixed chorus will sing “ A Christmas Garland” of traditional carols and contemporary choral works on the theme of “Noel, Alleluia”. The concert will usher in the holiday season accompanied by harp, piano, and instrumentalists. The Saturday, Dec. 5 performance will be at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 22 Fox Run Road in Newington, N.H., at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday, Dec. 6 concert will be at the Wesley Kennedy Performing Arts Center of Marshwood High School, Route 236 in South Berwick, Me., at 3 p.m.
The Community Chorus at South Berwick has become a fixture among Seacoast music-lovers, drawing its singers and audiences from across the region. The performers range in age from twenties to seniors. While based in South Berwick, it is a regional group with singers from over 15 towns in Seacoast Maine and New Hampshire. Conductor/Director Dr. Harry Moon, who is beginning his tenth season with the group, notes that carol singing has long been part of the Nativity season, with roots in the French caroles, or dance-songs, of the common people rather than the church or court. Several of this year’s concert selections are in this French tradition as well as those of England and Appalachian America, including the familiar We Three Kings and The Holly and the Ivy.
Composers and arrangers represented in the program range from a sixteenth century French court organist to current San Jose University physics professor, Brian Holmes. Punctuating the program are four settings of an Alleluia text by twentieth century composers Randall Thompson, James Poulsen, Fredric Bayco, and Stephen Paulus. The highly popular choral composer, Eric Whitacre, is represented by his haunting Lux Aurumque.
Accompanying the chorus will be Audrey Adams on the piano, Melinda McMahon on the harp, Victoria Myer on the cello, and Jennifer Doiron on the oboe.
Tickets are $10 at the door ($8 for seniors and students) or $8 in advance at South Berwick Pharmacy, 287 Main Street, South Berwick; Gary’s Guitars, 800 Islington Street, Portsmouth; and York Flower Shop, 241 York St., York. Information is available at ccsb-sing.org or 207-384-7059.
