Community Choir to present annual Christmas concert
COSHOCTON — The Coshocton Community Choir presents their Child of Promise Festival Christmas Concert on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. at Coshocton High School’s McKinley Auditorium. The concert is under the direction of Charles R. Snyder and features the adult choir, The Coshocton Singers (singers in grades 4 – 8); and the Coshocton Youth Chorale (high school age singers).
“Every year, we try to look at the ageless Christmas story through a different lens,” said Snyder. “That new focus inspires a concert logo, suggests musical possibilities, and shapes the writing of the narration by the Reverend Richard Hoover. Columbus artist Tom Kulewicz has been designing the Christmas concert logo since 1988, 30 years! Pastor Hoover first penned the narration in 2009 and has been writing it each year since 2013. We feel fortunate to be able to collaborate with such gifted colleagues.
“As often happens, the concert theme, ‘Child of Promise’, came from the text of one of the songs, in this case, ‘Sleep, Little Baby’. The beautiful lullaby, written by Joseph M. Martin, will be sung by the Coshocton Youth Chorale. With the current unrest here and abroad, and natural disasters, the words of promise will be the Good News we need to hear, especially in this holy season.”
The audience will be invited to join the choirs in singing “What Child Is This”, “Angels We Have Heard on High”, and “Joy to the World”. Accompaniment will be provided by the Roscoe Brass Quintet who have been part of the Community Choir concerts since 1991, Dickie Rohrer Barrick, who has been the accompanist of the choir since 1983, and Matt Hayes, percussionist. The Coshocton Singers (founded as the Coshocton Children’s Choir) has been part of the concerts since 1988, and singers of the Coshocton Youth Chorale have added their exuberant voices since 2003.
“Because this year marks the 200th anniversary of the writing of ‘Silent Night’, I’ve chosen a setting that’s new to us,” said Snyder. “Rhonda Polay’s arrangement of our most beloved Christmas carol is not what one would expect, but it has become a new favorite as we’ve been rehearsing it.
“Three other songs new to us are ‘Judea,’ an energetic Christmas song written by William Billings, one of America’s first composers, a newer setting of the old Sunday School song, ‘Jesus Loves the Little Children’, and ‘The Work of Christmas’, written by contemporary composer Dan Forrest, using a powerful text by Howard Thurman, an African-American philosopher, author, theologian, and educator.”
The Coshocton Community Choir concert will be at McKinley Auditorium located at Coshocton High School, 1205 Cambridge Road, at 3 p.m. Tickets for the concert are $10 for adults and $5 for students and are available pre-sale from choir members, online at CoshoctonCommunityChoir.org, or from these ticket outlets: in Coshocton at Marilyn’s Natural Foods or Buehler’s Food Markets, in Newcomerstown at Baker’s Foods, in West Lafayette at Home Loan Savings Bank, or in Roscoe Village at the Coshocton Visitors Bureau. Tickets will also be available at the door on concert day.
To find out more about the Coshocton Community Choir (now in its 48th season), The Coshocton Youth Chorale, or the Coshocton Singers, call the choir office at 740-623-0554, check out the Coshocton Community Choir Facebook page, or visit their website www.CoshoctonCommunityChoir.org.
Category: Arts & Entertainment
