Western Carolina Community Chorus
presents "Come to Bethlehem"
The Western Carolina Community Chorus will present a varied program of Christmas selections on Sunday, December 10, at 3 pm in the First Baptist Church in Sylva. The fifty-member ensemble is directed by Robert Holquist, and accompanied by Barbara Dooley, pianist, and Lorie Meservey, organist. Michael Nichols serves as Assistant Conductor, and will direct the group in three selections from the Shaped-Note tradition, which he researched and transcribed. Chris Corbin, Franklin, will be featured as tenor soloist in a Herbert Howells setting of "My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord."
A set of three carols by Praetorius (1609) includes the familiar "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming." The men of the chorus will sing a rich arrangement of "O, Holy Night." The chorus will sing three carols by John Rutter, whose compositions are favorites with performers and audiences alike, everywhere.
"Bethlehem appeared in so many of the texts, that it seemed appropriate to give the concert a title which invites the community to hear musical settings which express the excitement surrounding the birth of Christ," Holquist said. The program will close with the audience and chorus singing "The First Nowell," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and "Joy to the World." The concert is free and open to the public. This project was supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. It is also supported by the Jackson County Arts Council and Western Carolina University.