Otero College Community Choir to present “Sing Joy to the World”, Monday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.

Think of the sights and sounds of the December holidays… joyous fanfares and pealing bells. Singers caroling and sweet singing in the choir. The bright busy bustle in the shops. Families sharing love and laughter. Excited children rushing to open their beautifully wrapped packages. All of these images will resound in the singing of the Otero College Community Choir as the group proudly presents, “Sing Joy to the World”, a concert at Otero College on Monday, Dec. 11. The concert begins at 7 p.m. and admission is free at the Ed Stafford Theatre.

Christmas music past and present includes so many different traditions and styles. The concert opens with a medieval procession featuring the ancient sounds of drums and bells. The song “A Medieval Fa-La-La” takes the familiar carol “Deck the Hall” and transforms it, arranging it in the ancient Dorian scale.

Then the rich and resonant sound of the cello, skillfully and sensitively played by Tess Belnap, accompanies a haunting new setting of “O Come, Emmanuel”. The piece develops into a cello solo setting of the more familiar tune. Kate Pruyn follows with a gorgeous performance of “O Holy Night.”

Ms. Belnap is featured in several of the choir’s songs, including “Sing Joy to the World”, “The First Noel/Pachelbel’s Canon”, and “All On a Silent Night”. All three pieces combine the familiar with a new twist, creativity adding spice to familiar songs. Especially fun and innovative is the melding of “The First Noel” with Johann Pachelbel’s famous Canon in D. The Pachelbel piece is a staple of wedding processionals. “All On a Silent Night” is a partner song, i.e. a song where two distinct melodies combine to make a beautiful effect. In this case “Silent Night” partners with a newly composed melody. The cello adds its singing sound to each of these pieces.

“Gloria In Excelsis Deo” from Gloria is by the Baroque era composer Vivaldi and portrays the joyous proclamation of angels to shepherds. The concert then changes gears to a more contemporary mode with “Christmas On Broadway”, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”, and “Holly Jolly Christmas”. “Christmas On Broadway” is especially fun and strings together a bevy of popular hits: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Pine Cones and Holly Berries, Toyland, March of the Toys, My Favorite Things, We Need a Little Christmas, and God Bless Us Everyone. A trio consisting of Terry Miller, Kate Pruyn, and Rebecca Grantham, add to the fun with a rendition of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”.

The choir is privileged to welcome Mary Belew, pianist extraordinaire, as accompanist this semester. Marie Mora Menges plays bass guitar and Aaron Martinez drums. Mr. Rees, Otero College Choir director, invites the community to attend and be in on the fun. It will be a Holly Jolly time!

Members of the Otero College Community Choir:

Sopranos: Caitlyn Dieckmann, Kady Garcia, Nancy Jenniges, Janell Lorenzo, Terry Miller, Heidi Palmer, Kate Pruyn, Tori Schneider

Altos: Barbara Bender, Donna Cannon, Lynda England, Rebecca Grantham, Alicia Haldeman, Kelly Jo Smith, Lynne Tabb

Tenors: Zadok Collins, Dan Haddan, Judy Hensley, Colleen Oquist, Rob Oquist

Basses: Tim Austin, Ezra Collins, Mike Shima