STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Get ready for “an amazing crazy” arrangement of “Jingle Bells” when the Caritas Chorale presents two free holiday concerts this coming weekend.
The first performance of “I Heard the Bells” on Saturday, Dec. 2, starts at 7 p.m. The Sunday, Dec. 3, performance starts at 3 p.m. Both concerts will be held at the Wood River High School Performing Arts Theater in Hailey.
“The arrangement of ‘Jingle Bells’ is one I’ve never heard before. It’s so fun,” said Jennifer Stahl, a second soprano with the group. “It starts out, ‘Dashing, dashing, dashing,’ then you hear ”Jingle, jingle jingle.’ The basses come in, then the sopranos. It’s really, really cool.”
The Chorale presented a holiday concert last year and it proved so popular that Music Director R.L. Rowsey promised to do it again. The chorale will be accompanied by Dorinda Rendahl.
In fact, the selection of music was so enjoyable that the Chorale has swelled to more than 50 singers for this concert, said longtime member Linda Bergerson.
“Holiday music warms the heart, and we have had a great time preparing for this concert,” said Rowsey. “We are especially delighted to add new people to our ranks.”
This year’s concerts will feature a lot of familiar carols, such as “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “O Holy Night,” “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” “What Child is This?” “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” “Three Ships” and “Going to Bethlehem to See that Baby.”
It includes a piece of John Rutter’s called “Jesus Child” that the Chorale does at such a fast clip they’re able to sing out six pages of music in 2 and a half minutes.
And it includes “I Saw the Wild Geese,” which is based on a poem by Rachel Lyman Field.
“It goes, ‘Something told the wild geese, it was time to go. Though the fields lay golden, something whispered, ‘snow,’ ” said Stahl. “It’s beautiful, absolutely haunting.”
The Caritas Chorale will follow up this weekend’s concerts with its annual Holiday Sing-along at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Sun Valley. The Chorale will reprise some of the songs they sing this weekend and ask audience members to sing along on others.
The Caritas Chorale was founded 16 years ago and has been offering free concerts for the valley ever since. To learn about joining, call Bergerson at 208-726-4846. The first performance following the holidays will be that of John Rutter’s “Gloria” on March 3 and 4.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Caritas Choral features first and second sopranos, first and second altos, first and second tenors and first and second basses. What’s the difference?
The first soprano can hit higher notes than a second soprano. And they often stay above the stave for long periods of time. Similarly, first tenors have to be able to hit the whole range, while second tenor is actually a little lower—closer to a baritone.
When it comes to the basses, the second bass hits the lowest notes.