Sing A Song Of Christmas

"You don't have to be super-good" to sing in the Arts Center of the Ozarks Chorale, says member Ron Knapp. "But most of the singers are."

Knapp, for instance, was a longtime music educator and came to Northwest Arkansas to be music director at Salem Lutheran Church in Springdale. Dustin Gililland has a bachelor of arts degree with an emphasis in music.

Both express the joy of singing with a group.

"Sharing music in a performance is a lot of fun," Gililland says. "Sharing music with a whole group magnifies the experience tenfold. After I graduated, I really started to miss being in some sort of music ensemble. I was very active with ensembles in college. I don't own a personal horn to keep my instrumental music going. So I wanted to expand my vocal music experience so that I could be well versed in music in general. The ACO Chorale has helped me do that, and I absolutely love it!"

"The music is always good, fun music," Knapp adds. "It brings people together to sing it and to enjoy it."

This fall, the Chorale has been preparing for the holiday concert, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5.

"Our concert was in mid-November last year," says Denice Parkhurst, the Chorale's director, "so we didn't get to do a lot of Christmas songs."

This year's theme is "Sing a Christmas Song," and "the Helen Tyson Middle School Girls' Honor Choir is the invited ensemble for the concert," Parkhurst says. "They will sing three pieces with the Chorale and sing a couple of pieces by themselves in the concert. I am the director of the Honor Choir [so] this will be a wonderful collaborative effort."

Parkhurst has selected a variety of music, including "Hallelujah Christ Is Born," set to a Caribbean Latin beat; "On With the Snow," a medley of "Sleigh Ride," "Winter Wonderland" and "Let it Snow Let it Snow"; "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"; two carols by English composer John Rutter, "The Angel's Carol" and "The Shepherds Pipe Carol"; and, the finale, Daniel Pinkham's "Christmas Cantata" in three movements, accompanied by a double brass choir.

The cantata, written in 1957 by Massachusetts-born Pinkham, utilizes traditional Nativity texts and is inspired by the Baroque polychoral works of Giovanni Gabrielli and Heinrich Schutz. Conductors have called it "joyous and celebratory."

That's the general mood of the singers as they approach the season, too.

"Ever since I was a little kid, Christmas has been my favorite time of year," Gililland says. "Christmas music has been a really big part of that. Music adds magic to the season! It warms hearts and brightens gloomy winter days. Being able to share that joy with others is what makes the Christmas program so special!"

-- Becca Martin-Brown

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NAN What's Up on 11/20/2015