Hilo Community Chorus Concert Set for December 7, 2014

The Hilo Community Chorus, conducted by Tom McAlexander and accompanied by Walter Greenwood, will present its annual holiday concert on Sunday, December 7 at 3:00 PM at the Church of the Holy Cross in Hilo. However, you will want to arrive early–by 2:45– to hear pre-concert music played by Greenwood on the fabulous Holy Cross organ.

The program opens with “Christmas…In About Three Minutes,” consisting of a number of snippets of well-known carols. You will be asked to count them, so be ready! Following will be several familiar carols as well as some fresh off the press. Members of the Chorus will be featured as soloists in several of the songs, and three members of the Christ Lutheran Church Bell Choir will join in a new arrangement of “I Saw Three Ships.”

In the second half of the program the Chorus will present Joseph M. Martin’s “Tapestry of Light: A Celtic Christmas Celebration.” They will be accompanied by a Celtic consort of Greenwood on piano, Loren Brownlea on violin, Herb Mahelona on cello, Cheryl Shine on flute and penny whistle, and Chelsea Pacheco on percussion. As in the first half, solos will be sung by Chorus members. In “Tapestry,” Martin, who will be in Hilo next October, has taken very familiar Celtic tunes and added new words to tell the Christmas story. Members of the Christ Lutheran Church Chancel Choir will join with the Chorus in this presentation.

This concert is free. It is presented as a gift to the community.