St Rose Choir To Present

‘The Voices Of Christmas’

The 5th Annual St Rose Choral Festival Concert has been moved this year from the traditional Easter season (due to the demands of the choir’s preparations for its musical tour to Italy this summer) to the season of Advent and Christmas. The concert will take place in St Rose of Lima Church on Church Hill Road on Sunday, December 12, at 4 pm.

Unlike the annual Christmas concert usually held at this time of the year, the larger Festival Choir will sing. And instead of a mix of religious and secular music, the program will feature a major cantata and include narrations and biblical characters.

The program will begin with a musical presentation by the church’s Folk Choir. Following this, 60-member Festival Choir will process into the church while singing “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” arranged by David Willcocks.

 The main feature of the concert will be the cantata, “The Voices of Christmas” composed by Joseph Martin in 2004. The narration is by Pamela Martin.

In his preface, Joseph Martin writes: “In this cantata, our goal is to convey the message that because Christ was born to everyone (past, present, and future), we are all, in some sense, connected to the manger. We are all witnesses to and voices of the Good News of His birth. The nine-person narration (the voices) consists of a Narrator, Israel, Isaiah, Gabriel, Mary, the Shepherd, the Star, Joseph, and the voice of Silence. A nativity figure representing each voice will be placed in a visible manger setting as each character is introduced during the cantata.”

Traditional music in the cantata consists of “The First Noel,” “The Gallery Carol,” “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “St Denio,” “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” “Still, Still, Still,” “Masters In This Hall,” “Picardy,” and “Good Christians, Now Rejoice.” Newly composed music by Joseph Martin consists of: “The Voices of Christmas,” “O Come, Emmanuel,” “The Promise Is Near,” “Chosen Mary, Gentle One,” “Still Is the Night,” “Listen To the Stars,” and “Joseph’s Song.” The narration and symbolism of the various voices in this cantata adds a contemporary message to the work. Various choir members will be featured vocal soloists and narrators. The concert will end with the traditional “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” arranged by Arthur Warrell. There will be no intermission.

The program will be directed and conducted by Music Director Joseph J. Jacovino, Jr. The concert is open to the public, no tickets necessary, and free will donations will be accepted to help assist the choir with their musical pilgrimage to Italy this summer.