ST. JOHNSBURY – The North Country Chorus presents its annual holiday concerts on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m,, and Sunday, Dec. 8, at 3 p.m., at the United Community Church at 1325 Main St. in St. Johnsbury. Admission is by donation.
Alan Rowe will direct the 70 singers of the community chorus to present Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” and the suite of “Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest” by Conrad Susa. They will also sing Mendelssohn’s “Behold a Star from Jacob Shining.”
Accompanying the chorus will be Academy teacher Elia Desjardins on harp, recent Academy graduate Kaci Cochran on marimba, Peter Mathews on guitar, and Sandra Sprecher on piano.
St. Johnsbury Academy’s select choral ensemble, the Hilltones, will round out the program with an eclectic set including a spiritual, an Irish farewell song, a Canadian folk tune, and a piece by Norwegian artist, “Aurora.”
Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” was inspired by his discovery of a collection of poems by 15th and 16th century Old English writers, most of whom are anonymous. Composed in 1942, it is an unusual setting for voices and harp, which became an iconic choral landmark of the Christmas season.
Conrad Susa’s “Carols and Lullabies” was composed as a companion piece to Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols.” A friend showed Susa a collection of traditional Spanish carols he had sung as a boy in Arizona. He arranged them to form a narrative, noting their connections with Renaissance music along with their homey, artful simplicity. The work adds marimba and guitar to Britten’s harp to give it its distinctive Southwestern flavor.
