The Hilo Community Chorus will present its annual holiday concert of carols and seasonal music at 2 PM Saturday, Dec. 2, at First United Protestant Church.

Tom McAlexander, the group’s longtime musical director, will conduct the performance and Walter Greenwood will accompany on organ and piano. Admission is free.

The concert features the hauntingly beautiful new “Magnificat” for chorus and soprano soloist by up-and-coming Norwegian composer Kim Andre Arnesen. HCC is excited to present the work of such a young composer.

Arnesen was born in 1980 and already is receiving worldwide recognition. His “Magnificat,” written and first performed in 2010, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2016.

The soprano solos will be sung by Amy Horst, who is well known to Hawaii audiences for her frequent recitals and concerts and for her portrayal of Mary Poppins in the Palace Theater’s recent musical production. Horst also is director of choral studies at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

The second half of the concert features seven chorus members as soloists in the “International Carol Suites” by American composer Mark Hayes. The three suites are newly composed for 2017. They compile various traditional and seasonal songs from Western and Eastern Europe and the British Isles in inventive and surprising ways.

The First United Protestant Church is located at 1350 Waianuenue Ave. above the Hilo Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente Hilo Clinic . (click above link to go to location in Google Maps).

An interview with composer Kim Andre Arnesen can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5Ksw0UDX2A .  An interview with composer Mark Hayes can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sSgY1oeTkA

In addition to the First United concert, the Hilo Community Chorus will host Hilo’s annual Messiah sing-along at 2:15 p.m. Dec. 10 at Christ Lutheran Church, 595 Kapiolani St. Soloists for the event will be Horst, Gerdine Markus, Ian McMillan and Barry Brandes. Singers and listeners are welcome.

The Hilo Community Chorus is a nonprofit organization. Members are not auditioned. Anyone interested in singing with the group can contact McAlexander at tommac@hawaii.rr.com.  (some text copied from Hawaii Tribune Herald article here , no author attributed)