Phoenix Choir is developing a reputation for adding a special touch to their performances. This festive season their Christmas concerts in Leura and Lithgow promise to continue this tradition with guest trumpeter Emma Bolton and the return of audience-favourite guest baritone Tristan Entwistle.
Musical Ddrector, Rowen Fox, has built a program around the exquisite Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols. This popular work is a medley of English folk carols which Vaughan Williams collected from country communities, rescuing them before they died away. The melodies of each carol weave back and forth in a conversation between the baritone soloist and choir, from his opening solo, reminiscent of a wintry English landscape, to the full-throated climax with the choir wishing everyone a Happy New Year.
The stirring sound of the trumpet adds festive cheer to the rousing chorus Christians, be joyful, from J S Bach’s famous Christmas Oratorio, and to a selection of much-loved traditional carols that are interspersed through the program. As always, the audience are invited to sing along with the most popular numbers. And, of course, no Phoenix Choir Christmas concert would be complete without several selections from Handel’s Messiah. This year the Hallelujah Chorus provides a fitting finale.
The Leura concert is at St Alban’s Anglican Church in Megalong Street at 4pm on Saturday, December 5, with a repeat performance at Hoskins Memorial Church in Lithgow at 3pm the following afternoon. Tickets ($20; $15 concession; accompanied school-age children free) are available at the door or online at phoenixchoir.org.au/tickets/. Inquiries, Alison Hyde 0404 306 589.
