“Singing in the Joy” in Maberly

Julie Druker | Dec 16, 2015

On December 6, the voices of the 45 members of the Tay Valley Community Choir filled the Maberly Hall with the sounds of joy in the group's 23rd concert to date.

The choir, which was formed in the fall of 2004, has been performing a wide and diverse repertoire, and their annual holiday concert, which this year was titled “Sing in the Joy”, as usual attracted a full house to the Maberly hall.

The four-part choir opened the concert with a tune aptly called “Open Up”, with various soloists singing the verse and the entire choir joining in in unison, and with celebratory hand clapping, which set the tone for a joyous afternoon of song. The group began by lining the walls of the hall, enveloping the listeners in their warm sound as they made their way onto the stage. A fancily clad Town Crier (Paddy O'Connor), also a member of the group, introduced the choir and the group's relatively new conductor, Rebecca Worden, who took over the baton from Grace Armstrong in the fall of 2014.

Worden is a capable and enthusiastic conductor and it was her third concert with the choir.

The program included an African song sung in Swahili, the title of which translates to “Grant Us Peace and Prosperity”. The choir gave the audience many opportunities to join in for a number of favorite carols that included “Joy to the World”, “Jingle Bells” and “White Christmas”. The choir was at their jazziest in tunes like “Christmas Time is Here”, the heart-warming tune written by Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi and made famous by Peanuts, as well an exceptional version of “Sleigh Ride” that was also arranged with jazz at its heart.

The singers also took on a number of challenging classical pieces like the “Carol of the Bells”.

The group was accompanied on piano by Yu Kwei, who is currently doing a musical internship with the choir. Kwei was joined in a few numbers by Bob Leviton on guitar and a number of choir members also played bells, drums and other instruments to give added depth and colour to the program.

The eight-member group known as Fiddlers and Friends then took to the stage, donned with holiday head gear and they performed a number of tunes from their accomplished repertoire that included “Red Wing” and “The Log Driver's Waltz”. Lois Webster and her puppet pal were front and center for the tune “Maple Sugar” and the group also performed a composition written by group member Marily Seitz titled “Laurie's Delight”, which she penned for her daughter.

One of the concert highlights was the joining of the two groups for “Lulabye Noelle”, in which the entire hall became a stereophonic hall of sound and the audience was engulfed from all sides by instrumental and vocal sound.

Highlights in the choir's second half included John Rutter's “Angels Carol” and “Cool Yule”, which was also memorable.

They finished off the afternoon by dimming the lights, holding up tea-lit candles and singing “Silent Night”, which is a long-time tradition for the group. The choir, who practice regularly on Monday nights, are always looking for new singers and are also presently looking for a new accompanist. Those interested can visit www.tayvalleychoir.com