Two Opportunities This Weekend To Hear Connecticut Choral Society’s ‘Candlelight And Carols’

On the evening of Friday, December 9, and the afternoon of Saturday, December 10, The Connecticut Choral Society will present its annual Christmas concert, “Candlelight and Carols: music for a joyous holiday season.”

The 75 singers of the choral society, under the direction of Eric Dale Knapp, will be joined by the New York Boychoir, bass-baritone Boyd Schlaefer, dancer Kate Taylor, and organist/accompanist Linda Sweetman-Waters for a mix of contemporary and traditional holiday music. A highlight of the concert will be the premier of composer Ron Dukensky’s “The Lord’s Prayer,” written expressly for CCS.

“The goal of each concert is to present beautiful music, and in so doing to enrich the lives of both audience and participants,” stated Maestro Knapp.

Founded by Steven Fisher, Mark Pacoe and Martha Platt, The New York Boychoir is the only community-based boy choir in the entire city of New York. The goal is to offer boy singers performance opportunities, and to instill in them a love of choral singing.  Boys are welcomed from all walks of life. This will be the popular choir’s second appearance with CCS.

Bass-baritone Boyd Schlaefer is currently in his 18th year as a singer with the New York City Opera, and he is well-known for his television appearances on the PBS specials “Live from Lincoln Center.”  He is the artistic director and founder of Northwest Opera in Schools (NOISE).

In addition, he is on the faculty of Western Connecticut State University, and he is well-known in this area for his participation in the arts. He will sing the bass solo in Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols.

Dancer Kate Taylor grew up in Weston and Newtown, and she has performed contemporary dance across Connecticut and in New York City with the Young People’s Creative Dance Theatre.  She has performed in a variety of settings: churches, festivals, underground venues, at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and as a clown in Toronto and in Brooklyn. Ms Taylor has choreographed her performance to Craig Hella Johnson’s arrangement of “Lo, How a Rose/The Rose.”

“I want to create something beautiful with quiet, hushed attention, heightening the senses of the audience,” she said recently. “I will be a partner with the Chorus, creating a special moment and responding to the listening audience.”

Linda Sweetman-Waters is well-known to audiences of the Connecticut Choral Society.  She has performed internationally, as well as at Carnegie Hall, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, and at The White House. Ms Sweetman-Waters is also the accompanist for New Jersey Choral Society, directed by Maestro Knapp.

Tickets for both concerts are $20 for adults, $10 ages 18 and under, and are available from Connecticut Choral Society members, at Woodbury Drug, Villarina-Southbury and Newtown, and online at CTChoralSociety.org.

For further information, visit the website or call (203) 206-7186.