Gettysburg Choral Society
Even before Black Friday, the swell of a busy holiday season can seem insurmountable.
Fortunately, this month, Harrisburg-area choral groups have an antidote to all the bustle—an hour or two of lovely seasonal song.
“We don’t take time to pause,” said Linda Tedford, artistic director and founder of Susquehanna Chorale, commenting on the state of our hectic lives.
Experiencing choral music that’s beautiful and meaningful, Tedford said, can restore the peace and reflection that people often forget to hold dear as everything buzzes around them.
Susquehanna Chorale is one of the region’s choral groups mounting holiday concerts this December. The 40-voice choir has been putting on professional performances for more than four decades. In fact, the group is a multi-generational affair consisting of youthful voices ages 24 to those much more mature.
For this year’s holiday concert, Tedford has selected a range of music across different time periods of history.
The “Candlelight Christmas” concert series, performed at a trio of locations in Dauphin County, includes classical texts and modern carol arrangements alike.
“The atmosphere, the poinsettias, the beautiful venues and the feeling of coming away from the clutter of the holiday seasons is what I’m trying to achieve,” Tedford explained.
While surrounding the audience by candlelight, The Susquehanna Chorale will perform “Salvation Is Created,” a Russian piece composed by Pavel Chesnokov in the early 20th century. Audiences can also expect “Magnificat” by Charles Theodore Pachelbel (composed in the late Baroque era of the 18th century) and some pieces by American composers, including Gwenyth Walker and Randol Alan Bass.
In contrast to the more serious classical texts, Tedford has included a new arrangement of well-known holiday songs such as “Jingle Bells,” “Deck the Halls,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” among other favorites. The chorale also will feature an audience sing-along for two pieces during the performance.
“I try to emphasize to the singers that the main thing is communication with the audience, communication of the joy of singing choral music, the joy of singing together, and the joy of giving our audiences something that is very meaningful and relevant to today’s society,” Tedford said.
Cantate Carlisle, a choral ensemble spearheaded by artistic director Michelle DiBona Trefren, is putting on its own holiday concert series that nods to Disney’s 100th anniversary. The concerts, taking place at the First United Church of Christ, surrounds the motif, “We see eye to eye when we act heart to heart.” This idea stems from “A Goofy Movie,” which featured the song “I 2 I” and that the chorus will sing in an a cappella arrangement.
“I felt like that was an important message for our community,” Trefren said.
Cantate is balancing the novelty of Disney with classical music, as well as more contemporary carols. “The Many Moods of Christmas” (arranged by Robert Shaw and Robert Russell Bennett), “There Shall a Star from Jacob Come Forth” (from Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Christus”), and “Glow” (composed by Eric Whitacre and commissioned for Walt Disney World’s nighttime show, “World of Color: Winter Dreams”) help make up this lineup.
In its December series, Cantate will feature the tenor bass ensemble and soprano alto ensemble separately, making for a moment when the low voices and the high voices get to be featured independently of one another. The audience, Trefren said, always appreciates this moment. Guest string and wind instrumentalists add to the performance’s complexity.
Further to the south, the Gettysburg Choral Society will present its Christmas concert entitled “Joy to the World!” in the Church of the Abiding Presence on the campus of the United Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg on Dec. 1. Under the direction of John McKay, the 40-voice choir and guest organist Peggy Haas Howell will perform pieces from Robert Shaw, Alice Parker and other composers in a chapel with satisfying acoustics.
If you miss that early-month concert, the choral society will hold another performance a week later, just south of the Mason/Dixon line in the lovely college town of Emmitsburg, Md.
Tedford said that members of her group, the Susquehanna Chorale, give up every Monday night from September to December to prepare for the holiday concerts. This is a common theme among the chorales of the region, all so they can ensure a peaceful, invigorating and worthwhile time for audiences.
“The singers and I take this responsibility as something kind of sacred,” Tedford said.
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Cantate Carlisle
“We See Eye-to-Eye When We Act Heart-to-Heart”
Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m.
First United Church of Christ
30 N. Pitt St., Carlisle
Gettysburg Choral Society
“Joy to the World!”
Friday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.
The Church of the Abiding Presence (Chapel) at United Lutheran Seminary
61 Seminary Ridge, Gettysburg
Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3 p.m.
Basilica of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
339 S. Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, Md.
www.gettysburgchoralsociety.org
Harrisburg Gay Men’s Chorus
“Bring on the Holi-Daze!”
Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.
Heidelberg UCC
47 W. Philadelphia St., York
Sunday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m.
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
1280 Clover Lane, Harrisburg
Saturday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m.
Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Church
9 Hahnstown Rd.,Ephrata
Sunday Dec. 17 at 3 p.m.
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
121 Spring St. Middletown
Saturday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
22 6th St., Lebanon
www.harrisburggaymenschorus.org
The Harrisburg Singers
“Comfort and Joy”
Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
St. Joseph Catholic Church
400 E. Simpson St., Mechanicsburg
Sunday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m.
Trinity Lutheran Church
2000 Chestnut St., Camp Hill
Susquehanna Chorale
“Candlelight Christmas”
Friday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Calvin and Janet High Center for Worship and Performing Arts
Messiah University
600 University Ave., Mechanicsburg
Saturday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Leffler Chapel, Elizabethtown College
1 Alpha Drive, Elizabethtown
Sunday, Dec. 17 at 4 p.m.
Market Square Presbyterian Church
20 S. 2nd St., Harrisburg
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