Press Release, Winter 2009

Clearlakes Chorale Winter Concert

December 12 and 13

What Sweeter Music: An English Christmas

The Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten and a selection of English carols arranged by director, Andy Campbell, will be performed on Dec 12th at 7:30 PM and Dec 13th at 2:00 PM at St. Katharine Drexel Church on Rt 28 in Alton.

Featured soprano soloist Susan Consoli will join with the 70 member chorale and 20 piece professional orchestra, with violinist and concert master Elliott Markow, harpist Katie Lyon, and the chorale’s accompanist, Nancy DuCette Farris.

Soloists from the Chorale include soprano Michelle Dodge, and basses Pete Caesar, Jim Hulm, Derek Fletcher, and Scott Apgar.

The first half of the concert will feature two orchestration pieces, A Tangle of English Carols by Andy Campbell, and Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Three Ancient Christmas Carols, arranged by Andy Campbell for men’s chorus will follow. The women of the chorale will sing one of the greatest pieces of Christmas music, A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten. An interlude for the harp occupies the middle.

The second half of the concert will include the “merry” music of Christmas, including Tomorrow Will Be My Dancing Day and The Monkey’s Carol. Section two contains music both quick and joyful and quiet and profound, including Bethlehem Down by Peter Warlock, and A Dream of Christmas by Gustav Holst. Section three is all about lambs and shepherds and natural imagery, while section four is your turn, as you join the chorale in singing three familiar carols in the Clearlakes’ traditional Christmas sing-along.

The Lakes Region is in for a very special treat as What Sweeter Music fills the air and ushers in the Christmas season. Don’t miss this very special concert and experience the joy and beauty of this music. Tickets are $15, $10 for students, and are available at Black’s and Stay Tuned in Wolfeboro, The Lion’s Garden in Alton, online at www.clearlakeschorale.org/tickets or from any chorale member.