Ch-ch-ch-choices in Voices

If you want to take in all of the choral programs happening this weekend, you’d better figure out how to clone yourself quickly. By some quirk of fate, or quirky communication between them, seven different mostly choral concerts are taking place this week, including an astonishing five between Saturday and Sunday, four of them from some of the bigger organizations in town. 

“We try to avoid conflicts, but everybody likes to sing in Santa Barbara, or at least listen to singers,” said JoAnne Wasserman, the artistic director and conductor of the Santa Barbara Choral Society since 1993. 

The Choral Society is the oldest such vocal group in the area, with a tenure that dates to 1948, and is marking another milestone with its 10th iteration of The Hallelujah Project – an inclusive, community-based pair of concerts to celebrate the season. Once again, the 60-plus Choral Society semi-professional singers will perform both classic and cultural selections, accompanied by the 35-piece Choral Society Orchestra. But the popular program also includes such special holiday happenings as a reading of the classic poem “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” accompanied by the orchestra, performed this year by Santa Barbara-based actress Meredith Baxter, whose warm and toasty presence has permeated stages and airwaves since her days as the mom on Family Ties. 

“I thought that since we are a community choir, the Choral Society should have a community concert at Christmastime,” Wasserman said, explaining the concept behind creating the event. “I wanted to incorporate the orchestra, soloists and a children’s chorus and have a guest celebrity narrator as well as sing-alongs. It’s something for everybody, a festive family-friendly concert for the community.” 

This year, the SING! Children’s Chorus of the Music Academy of the West will perform “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas,” a John Williams song from the movie Home Alone, and a traditional Hanukkah song (Michael Isaacson’s “Be a Shamash”), and join the Society’s singers for several other selections. The Choral Society will perform a few settings of carols and other songs by John Rutter, one of England’s best-known composers of the late 20th century, and one with a particular affinity for choral music. The unified choirs will present Rutter’s gentle classic, “The Colors of Christmas,” and his setting of “Esta Noche,” a Catalan carol.

“We always sing with the children,” Wasserman said. “Somehow, we mix really well. It’s a very heartwarming part of the show and we love having the kids sing in our concert.”

The “minor major” work on this year’s program finds the Choral Society taking on Rutter’s setting of “Gloria,” a three-movement, 14-minute piece with a hearty melody.

“He is such a wonderful composer and has written so many beautiful arrangements of Christmas music,” Wasserman said. “His ‘Gloria’ is just gorgeous, a very exciting setting of the piece.”

The society singers will also perform arrangements by Mack Wilberg, and both traditional and new carols, including a Welsh one with Steven Thompson as soloist. And of course, given its title, the program proudly features a rousing Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, with all the singers on stage and folks in the audience joining in, and a guest conductor wielding the baton for the singers and orchestra, a prize won via a fundraising auction.

“We ask the audience to be involved so anybody can just become a part of the performance,” Wasserman said. 

Sunday’s performance will feature the return of auction winner Kathleen Stinnett, who wowed the audience last year not only via her skills with the baton but also for donning a stunning red jacket. 

“It’s an opportunity for someone from our community to conduct the chorus,” Wasserman said. “Just to stand on the podium and have all that music coming at you is quite an experience. It’s a lot of fun for us to do.” 

The performances, which take place Saturday at 7 pm and Sunday at 3 pm at the Lobero Theatre, come to a close with the chorus singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

“The second half of the concert is very uplifting and festive,” Wasserman said. “We send everybody home with a smile on their face and a song in their heart.” 

Voices Carry: Competing Choir Concerts

Also vying for your vocal music attention are three more eagerly anticipated annual choral concerts. The Quire of Voyces offers its Mysteries of Christmas concert at 3 pm on both Saturday and Sunday in St. Anthony’s chapel, with founding artistic director Nathan Kreitzer once again leading the a cappella choir in a concert of sacred music meant to convey a message of peace, love and joy to the cherished Santa Barbara community. Promising a “shimmering candelabra of carols, with each song giving its own glow to make a lovely light,” the concert includes a Polish nativity lullaby, richly arranged traditional carols in addition to a new work by composer-in-residence Stephen Dombek (“Infant Holy”), and a quartet of settings from Matthew Culloton. Whatever the material, given the remarkably resonant acoustics and the talented and well-rehearsed singers, expect truly heavenly harmonies. 

Montecito meets the moment in a couple of concert instances this weekend, including the Santa Barbara Master Chorale performing on Sunday at 3 pm in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. Artistic Director-Conductor David Torres leads the chorus in its 26th annual Holiday Concert and Carol Sing-Along, with special guest choral singers from both San Marcos and Santa Barbara high schools. 

On a grander scale, the Westmont Christmas Festival, which moved to the Granada Theatre a few years back to accommodate larger audiences, marks its 20th annual performance Saturday at 7 pm and Sunday at 3 pm. The festival celebrates Jesus’ birth through a presentation that offers a theme (“Dwelling Place” for 2024), a narrative, and a plethora of Christmas music from around the world and through the centuries, performed by the Westmont Orchestra, College Choir and Chamber Singers.

Rounding out the wild weekend’s wonders, the Santa Barbara Music Club joins the choral concert lineup with its annual holiday performance on Saturday at 3 pm at First United Methodist Church with a festive program of choral and instrumental music by the Adelfos Ensemble, the choir that completed its own seasonal concert late last month, marking its 20th anniversary. Erin Bonski-Evans serves as guest conductor and pianist with flautist Andrea Di Maggio as soloist.