NEWBURYPORT — During a chilly December weekend, voices raised in song warmed two winter nights and ushered in the holiday season.
The Newburyport Choral Society presented its annual winter concert, “Luminous Night,” at the Nock Middle School Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 14, and Sunday, Dec. 15. The concerts featured a program that included both joyful and reflective pieces drew a crowd of around 1,000 over two performances.
“The choral society has always prided itself on presenting a musical experience you’d normally have to go to a much bigger city to get. For a small city, we have this cultural gem,” Brian Greenberg, lead baritone and choral society media/publicity director for the choral society, said.
Danielle Sherman, a soprano in the chorus and a soloist for one of the evening’s tunes, called the concert “really joyful and Christmas-y.” An experienced musician with a degree in vocal performance, Sherman says the chorus, which does not require auditions to join, comprises 100 performers with a wide range of abilities. The chorus is a multigenerational group with fluidity in its membership.
Sherman called the choir “some kind of living organism,” with members who’ve participated consistently for more than 20 years, and others who are more transient.
This year’s winter concert saw the sizable chorus accompanied by organ, piano, percussion, and strings in a performance that celebrated the mystery of a winter night and the beauty of the holiday season. The program included a contemporary Norwegian piece; a sing-along of popular Christmas carols; and Latin American, Chanukah, and seasonal favorites.
“The audience embraced every part of the concert, and the sing-alongs were great,” Greenberg said. “Mystical things happen when voices blend. There’s a lot of heart in singing, and it’s a nice break from more cerebral work.”
Among the pieces performed was composer Stephen Schwartz’s “The Chanukah Song.” Choristers held lit votive candles memorializing members and former members who had died, bringing poignancy to the song’s lyrics: “But the blazing of our candles is not our only light. Look at us shining here tonight.”
The Newburyport Choral Society was founded in 1934 and is celebrating its 90th season of making music on Boston’s North Shore. The group performs choral music for cultural enrichment and education and is committed to helping people of all backgrounds experience the joy and beauty of music. The society fosters the appreciation of music in the Greater Newburyport community by involving school groups in performances and commissioning new works, according to its website.
The choral society continued to demonstrate its commitment to accessibility by way of their participation in the “Card-to-Culture Program.” The initiative is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Department of Transitional Assistance, the WIC Nutrition Program, and Mass Health Connector, and is dedicated to making cultural programming accessible to all. The society offers discounts to EBT/WIC/Connector Card holders for $5 per person, with up to four people per card. For the winter concert, four individuals took advantage of the Card-to-Culture Program, according to Greenberg.
Greenberg said music director Dr. Minji Kim “brings a joy to the process of learning the music and has a great way of teaching vocal technique.”
To enable individual chorus members to practice outside of rehearsal, the group uses software with recorded tracks of the songs they’ll be performing; the software breaks out each voice part individually, and is especially helpful for those choristers who don’t read music.
The Belleville Church, the group’s previous home base, is currently under renovation. With the money raised from performances, the choral society bought its own organ. Funds also go toward compensation for the music director and accompanist, as well as professional musicians who are brought in as featured performers.
The Newburyport Choral Society’s spring concert is scheduled for May 3 and 4. Rehearsals begin on Jan. 14, and those interested in singing with the group are invited to attend.
For more information on the choral society, visit: newburyportchoralsociety.org.