Holiday Concert Review

The Theme Of This Year’s Holiday Concert was Christmas Favorites. Once again we had another great Guest Performance by The New Hampshire Youth Singers who sang I See A Star and Holly Jolly Santa Claus. Both choruses joined together to sing Dominick The Donkey which was a great closer for the 1st Half Of The Concert.

Favorite songs in the concert aside from Dominick The Donkey included African Noel,Sing We Now Of Christmas, Mistletoe and Holly, I See A Star and Nutcracker Jingles.

White Christmas wrapped up the concert. It was great to see a song performed again from the first concert I was in with SVC four years AGO. White Christmas is a popular Christmas song originated by Bing Crosby and is from the Irving Berlin musical Holiday Inn. In the concert four years ago solos in this piece were by Heather Arsenault and Bryan Higgs. This time around there were no soloists in this piece but with or without solos it is a truly beautiful piece.

Twas the Night Before Christmas was originally adopted from what was also called A Visit from St. Nicholas, with the writing created by Clement Crake Moore in 1822. It’s a wonderful prologue about Christmas Eve when Santa with his eight reindeer go up on the housetop, and Santa goes down through the chimney with a bag of toys. It was one of the first times someone believed how Santa would do this every Christmas Eve. There were spoken solos describing St. Nick from Ellie Risley, Brenda Cannon, Christy Belvin, Jean Desany, and Arthur Harkness. The line where St. Nick goes to work and fills the stockings before going back up the chimney was a sung solo by Tenor veteran John Potelle. For a bonus feature, I found a feature of this classic tale on DOS that I used to have with my old IBM Computer back when I was little. The link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07pssCSaMi0

Review Contributors: Patty Helbig, Derrick Walcott, Jane Walcott

Favorite Chorus Songs

As previously mentooned Matt and I are spreading our wings and exploring other performance opportunities in the Greater Nashua area. We’d like to take the opportunity to share a list of our favorite songs from through out the years.

The review of the Holiday Concert will be posted tomorrow.

Janine’s Favorites

Holiday Concerts

1. Nutcracker Jingles

2. Wizards In Winter

3. Believe

4.That”s Christmas To Me

5. African Noel

6. Hot Chocolate

7. Happy XMas War Is Over

8. Nuttin For Christmas

9. I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm

10. Blue Christmas

Spring Concerts and Showcases

1. Under The Sea

2. Cerf Volant

3. Happy Working Song

4. Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story

5. I’ll Be There

6. Wind Beneath My Wings

7. If I Didn’t Have You

8. I Want The Good Times Back

9. For Good

10 Omnia Sol

Matt’s Favorites

Holiday Concerts

Jingle Bell Hallelujah
That’s Christmas To Me
Happy Xmas (War is Over)
Hanerot Halulu
Nuttin’ For Christmas
The Twelve Days of Regifted Christmas
Good King Wenceslas
Flowers in Winter
Sing With the Angels
Hark! The Harold Angels Sing

Spring Semester

Blackbird
Jersey Boys Medley
Dias Irae
The Lake
Make a Joyful Noise
Shenandoah
Take The A Train
Love
Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story
Whistling Gypsy (I had a solo in it!)

And last but not least..Under the Sea from 2016 Showcase that I did on my own.

That’s Christmas To Me

The bigger meaning of this piece by Pentatonix is the true meaning of Christmas which is family. As I get older I appreciate the spirit of the holidays and being surrounded by loved ones. That’s Christmas To Me is by far one of my favorite songs from any of the holiday concerts I have performed in over the past couple years. There are beautiful harmonies and melodies in it which gave it a nice blend. Solos in this piece were by Jackie Lowe. John Poetelle and Patrick McCarty.

As I prepare to open a new chapter in my performance career I would like to thank Souhegan Valley Chorus for all of the wonderful experiences they have given me over the years. In the coming year I will be exploring other performing opportunities in the Nashua area. With the recent relocation of my parents to Maine last fall Milford is quite a distance for me and Matt to travel and is not really local for us anymore.

Memories are lovely and we will hold them dear to us always.

This blog will no longer be active as of January 1st 2019.

Happy XMas War Is Over

I have had a bit of a struggle finding info on songs I am supposed to analyze for my Songs Of Christmas Past Blog series thus my posting schedule has had to be altered a few times. This week’s song is an example… the song I was supposed to analyze was Jingle Bell Hallejuah but due to lack of information I have decided to talk about Happy XMAS War Is Over instead.

As I mentioned last semester when I analyzed the Ticket To Ride Beatles Medley I was first introduced to the Beatles in college thanks to a band that my friends from theatre had called JFJ that did Beatles cover songs. Happy XMAS War Is Over was released 1971 after the Beatles had broken up. John and Yoko Ono formed their own band. This song was recorded with the Harlem Youth Choir. I always thought this was a beautiful Christmas song. It is one of my favorites. SVC performed this in our Sounds of The Season Concert in 2016. Guest artists for this song were Patrick McCarty, the SHS Acapella Choir and Jim Summers on Guitar. The audience was invited to sing along too which made the performance extra special. The harmonies were beautiful which was made this song easily the best song we sang in the whole concert.

Remaining Entries in the Songs Of Christmas Past Series

Wow! It is November already. Hard to believe that this semester has been flying by so quick I have missed everyone this semester and can’t wait until the concert which is just 1 month and 5 days away. Matt and I will be back next semester.

I hope everyone has been enjoying my Songs of Christmas Past Blog series. It has been fun reviewing songs from past holiday concerts. Unfortunately in some cases I have been unable to find information on the songs we have sung. Thus my posting schedule this series has been changed.

Friday 11-9 Jingle Bell Hallelujah

Friday 11-16 Bonus Analysis 40th Anniversary of Grease

This was originally supposed to be my analysis for the Top 40 Showcase in June. Unfortunately the showcase was canceled due to low ticket sales. I have decided to do this analysis anyway just for the fun of it. I hope people will enjoy it.

No Entry the week of Thanksgiving due to Holiday Traveling

Friday 11-30 That’s Christmas To Me

Friday 12-7 Happy XMAS War Is Over

Wednesday 12-19

Please note schedule change! This entry will be posted on my Theatre Is My Life Blog as the Milford and Souhegan High School Holiday Concerts will also be reviewed.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I am a bit early. I am especially thankful for all the support this blog has received in its first and hope it will continue to be successful in the years to come. We look forward to analyzing more music next semester. For future reference it is looking likely that in Fall 2019 we will be stepping away from doing this blog due to being busy with our Commitment Ceremony and honeymoon. We will make a final decision about this in August 2019.

What Is This Feeling?

This week I am going to be analyzing What Is This Feeling? from Wicked,

Wicked first premiered on Broadway in 2003 and starred India Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Cheonweth as Galinda. It is currently still on Broadway. I do not know who is playing the lead characters though.

When I think of this song I am immediately bought back to college when I met my roommate for the first time freshmen year. This is situation that Glinda and Elphaba find themselves in at the beginning of the show. In this song they are writing letters to their parents explaining what their roommate is like. I got along well with my roommate but at the first meeting it does not look like Elphaba and Glinda are going to get along. I am Glinda in this song and it fun to explore that character a little bit better. Developing this character will be fun as rehearsals for my cabaret progress. It is clear that they do not like each other and that Elphaba is different from the rest of them. That is why the other Shiz students side with Galinda. One thing that I really love about Wicked is the growth that the relationship between Glinda and Elphaba grows and how the “unadulterated loathing” eventually goes away.

I am very excited about my cabaret that I am doing at work. I am also hoping to achieve the girl of this performance of the song Angels on My Shoulder that Dan Wolaver composed for me. I think it would be a nice tribute to Dan to perform it. What Is This Feeling was performed in our spring concert ins 2016 Comedy tonight performed by Kim Whitehead and Rachel Cerullo.

This post was originally supposed to be posted on November 21st but had to be moved up a couple weeks due to lack of information provided on both Flowers In Winter and Goin To Bethlehem to do an analysis. Next week’s analysis will be on Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Edelweiss

I get to talk to one of my favorite movie musicals of all time in this post and I am so excited. I first saw the Sound Of Music when I was 10 years old at my grandparents house… it was first introduction to musical movies. Did you know that the Von Trapps were a real family of musicians? I have been to the Von Trapp family lodge in Stowe Vermont and it is such a fun place to go.. I really want to go back! The movie is actually based on the memoir of Maria Von Trapp which was published in 1947 after her husband Georg’s death. Maria Von Trapp was portrayed on screen by the great Dame Julie Andrews and Captain Von Trapp was played by Christopher Plummer. The stage musical premiered on Broadway in the Lunt Fontaine Theatre on November 16th, 1959 and the movie premiered in 1965. Mary Martin played Maria Von Trapp and Captain Von Trapp was portrayed by Theodore Bikel.

MY favorite songs from the Sound Of Music include I Have Confidence, 16 Going On 17, My Favorite Things, Something Good and Do Re Mi. The song I am going to talk about today is Edelweiss.

First of all what is Edelweiss? It is a flower that is a popular flower in Sweden and Austria. It means noble white in German, This flower grows high in the Alps.

This song is beautiful and I always thought it had wonderful harmonies in it. SVC performed it in their Christmas Around The World concert in 2012. This song was written for the Sound Of Music because it was a good representation of guitar playing and folk singing. It is sung in the festival performance scene in the movie and musical. The actor who played Georg in the musical was a good guitar player so this song was well suited for him. Sadly this was the last song that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote together before Hammerstein died of cancer.

How is this song related to Christmas and the holiday season? I wondered the same thing recently. If you listen to the lyrics it says “Blossom of Snow may you bloom and glow?” As I mentioned Edelweiss means Noble White in German which makes perfect sense for the holiday season. While The Sound Of Music is technically not a holiday film Edelweiss and My Favorite Things are my favorite Christmas songs from that movie.

Sources: Wikkipedia and Broadway Musicals The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time

Christmas Around The World

For the next two weeks the songs I am featuring will be from the Christmas Around The World concert which was in 2012. This week’s song will be Coventry Carol and next week’s song will be Edelweiss from ONE of my favorite musicals The Sound Of Music. Originally I was supposed to analyze Carol From An Irish Cabin this week but I could not find any info about the song.

This concert was performed before I joined the chorus but I have listened to the recording. It is an English Carol from the 16th century. It is part of a mystery play that was performed in English Christmas pageants. While it is a beautiful piece of music the story behind it is very sad. It is about how King Herod ordered the deaths of thousands of children under the age of two to be killed in Bethlehem. It is meant to be a luallby that the mothers sing to their dying children. I can’t even begin to put myself in the place of the mothers in this song.. mostly because I do not have any children of my own yet but it definitely pulls at the heartstrings.
New England Brass also performed this song in our Christmas In The British Isles concert last year.

A recent version of this song was performed by Pentatonix.

Blue Christmas

For the first installment of my Songs of Christmas Past Series I am going to be talking about Blue Christmas which was part of last year’s concert Christmas In The British Isles.
The original version of this song was performed by Doye O’Dell in 1948. It’s popularity was cemented eight years later in 1957 on Elvis Presley’s Christmas Album. Since that time numerous music groups have done covers of this song including The Beach Boys, Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride and Blake Shelton. In our performance Roger Hurd did an amazing solo.

Source for information: Wikipedia

40th Anniversary

Wow! This summer flew by quickly. Can’t believe that the Ice Cream Social is in a few weeks and looking forward to seeing everyone there.

This year is the 40th Anniversary Of SVC And In honor of the occasion I will be doing a special series Songs Of Christmas Past which will focus on songs from previous holiday concerts. Due to other engagements I will not be returning this semester to sing.

Here are the songs I’ll be analyzing

Blue Christmas Christmas In The British Isles

Carol From An Irish Cabin Christmas In The British Isles

Edelweiss Christmas Around The World

Flowers In Winter Sounds Of The Season

Goin To Bethlehem Sounds Of The Season

Hot Chocolate Christmas In Hollywood

Jingle Bell Hallelujah Ring Christmas Bells

That’s Christmas To Me Ring Christmas Bells