Coshocton Community Choir to perform Christmas concert
December 6, 2013
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The Christmas Rose is the theme of the Coshocton Community Choirs Festival Christmas Concert Sunday, Dec. 8, at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. More than 200 musicians from throughout central Ohio will weave together the Christmas Story at Coshocton High Schools McKinley Auditorium. Musical selections during the 90-minute concert span the centuries as the adult choir, the Childrens Choir, and the Youth Chorale, all under the direction of Charles R. Snyder, perform a mix of sacred and secular choral music.
Christmas songs and scripture abound with imagery of flowers blooming in the desert, said Snyder. Some songs see Jesus as the Christmas Rose; others speak of Mary as the flower that bore the Savior. As always, choosing a new theme each year allows us to see the Christmas story through a different lens. Once again, our artist friend Tom Kulewicz has beautifully captured that in the logo hes designed for this concert.
This years concert narration has been written by The Reverend Richard K. Hoover, retired pastor of Roscoe United Methodist Church. His love of music and his ability to capture and relate scriptural truth with poetic beauty make him a natural for this task, continued Snyder. He also wrote the concert story for us in 2009. We are grateful that he agreed to tackle this task again.
Snyder says the songs suggested by The Christmas Rose theme include the time-honored Lo, How a Rose Eer Blooming; composer friend Garry Cornells One Perfect Flower; the seasonal favorite, Gesu Bambino by Pietro Yon; and Z. Randall Stroopes hauntingly beautiful piece for womens voices with piano and oboe, There Is No Rose, based on an ancient Christmas text.
Other audience favorites will include Paul Christiansens setting of O Holy Night, a lovely setting of Away in a Manger sung by the Childrens Choir, the familiar Carol of the Bells, two contemporary Christmas spirituals, and the calypso carol Marys Little Boy Chile, made famous by singer Harry Belafonte. Members of the audience will join the choirs and instrumentalists in singing We Three Kings of Orient.
The concert features the 100-voice adult choir (now in its 43rd season), 42 singers in grades four through eight in the Coshocton Childrens Choir (now in its 27th season), 56 high school singers in the Coshocton Youth Chorale (in its 12th season), the Roscoe Brass Quintet, pianists Dickie Barrick and Mark Wagner, Deborah Jones on Oboe, and percussionist Jeff Myers.
Those who come to one of our concerts for the first time – especially those from a metropolitan area – often share their pleasant surprise when they see and hear 200 musicians from our area unite to offer their gifts of music, said Snyder. Many of our regular concert attendees tell us that their Christmas celebration begins with this concert. We invite you to share the joy of the season with us Dec. 8.
There are two concert times Dec. 8at 3 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the door or online at www.CoshoctonCommunityChoir.org. Tickets are also available at these presale tickets outlets: Liberty House in Roscoe Village; Good News Book Store, Buehlers Food Market, and Marilyns Natural Foods in Coshocton; Home Loan Savings Bank in West Lafayette and Bakers Foods in Newcomerstown.
The concert is held at Coshocton High Schools McKinley Auditorium located at 1205 Cambridge Road in Coshocton. For more information, contact the Coshocton Community Choir at 740-623-0554, www.CoshoctonCommunityChoir.org or find them on Facebook.
