Revelstoke Community Choir offers up some Christmas spirit

By Susie Green, Revelstoke Community Choir

Everyone has those favourite memories or traditions that spark the Christmas Spirit. I’m talking about the feelings of sweetness and joy that settle over your psyche when you reminisce about Christmases past. For a lot of people, gone is the shelter of the nuclear family at special holiday times such as Christmas. Some of us still strive to attain a sense of belonging that we once felt with the family dinners centered around grandma and grandpa’s home. There are people still fortunate enough to enjoy these types of gatherings. However, many of us attempt to find their own sense of tradition and connection in our community. In this changing world, our friends are now the family we choose for ourselves and we welcome you to join us, the Revelstoke Community Choir, on December 11 and 12, 2016. Let our choir transport you back in time, through a musical interlude, centered on beautiful music and voices celebrating the joy of Christmas.

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This year the traditional Revelstoke Community Christmas Choir Concert at the United Church will highlight a home grown talent. Charlotte Beglinger, a locally born and raised young woman, currently studying at UBC towards her Masters of Music in Opera Performance, will grace us with her voice by singing two solo selections she has been perfecting. An added bonus will be a duet with her boyfriend Matthew McLellan, another gifted opera student. Charlotte’s enthusiasm for singing is obvious and so is her excitement for being able to return to her hometown and sing.

The Christmas season often rekindles memories. One memory that envelopes me with love and joy is the time I ventured out in the winter cold, in the dark of night, with my two little boys in tow to watch a choir perform selections from Handel’s Messiah. It was the early ‘90s when we were living in Smithers. The communities of Hazelton, Smithers and Houston had combined voices, about 110 strong, to perform a magnificent series of concerts held in each community represented by members in the choir. By the time I clued in to purchase tickets for the show the only community that hadn’t sold out was Houston, a 45-minute drive away. It was a short debate with myself whether I had the courage to face a sometimes treacherous drive, in the dark, in the dead of winter, with moose roaming everywhere and the full responsibility of my young sons on my shoulders. It was a short debate and I bought tickets. As fortune would have it on the evening of the concert, it was cold and clear allowing the stars and moon to shine brightly; the road was bare and dry and not a moose dared cross our path. It was with nervous anticipation that we settled into our seats in the auditorium, a son to my right and one to my left. A hush fell over the crowd as the choir silently filed in to take their place on the risers. I smiled as I recognized people from Smithers, equally so my boys got quite excited to point out their good friend’s parents and teachers from their elementary school. The house lights dimmed and from the first note that the choir struck the entire audience sat enthralled with the beautiful performance. My heart was filled with a sense of bliss to not only experience such a wondrous concert for myself but to be able to introduce my young sons to the joy of it as well. They were your typical little boys that could easily have turned into squirming little worms but inside that auditorium they were caught up in the blissful feelings of Handel and each son looked up at me with joy and wonder at what they were hearing. The choir voices lifted me with a sense of euphoria that was heightened when my sons both thanked me profusely for allowing them to be a part of that magical evening. Our late evening return drive home to Smithers was buoyed by what we had experienced. It was two tired little troopers that tried to explain to their dad what they had experienced as he tucked them into bed. This is a Christmas treasure that still warms my heart 23 years later.

Revelstoke has an endearing sense of community that I treasure and that I hope newcomers will feel as well. Come on out and enjoy the Revelstoke Community Choir Concert at the United Church on MacKenzie Avenue, December 11 and 12, 2016. May this be one of your Christmas traditions that creates memories. Tickets are available at the Revelstoke Community Centre for $10 per person. Tickets sell quickly so don’t delay!

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