The Coshocton Community Choir will return to sing its first in-person Christmas Festival Concert since pre-pandemic 2019 on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022 at 3 p.m. at Coshocton High School's McKinley Auditorium. The 100-voice choir will be joined by the Coshocton Youth Chorale and The Coshocton Singers in the concert, as well as the Roscoe Brass Quintet, long-time accompanist Dickie Barrick, pianist Mark Wagner and several instrumentalists. In total, over 150 musicians from throughout central Ohio will participate.
“Over the years, many community members have said that their Christmas celebration begins with our concert. Hearing the audience join the choirs and instruments in singing several Christmas carols often gives me goosebumps, as we together remember the meaning of this holy season,” said Charles R. Snyder, director. “After two years of pandemic-related changes, especially for singing, it is a joy to again hear voices raised in song. We've been enjoying the sound in rehearsals, and know it will give you joy as well.”
Now in its 51st season, the Community Choir was organized in 1971 by Snyder, a longtime Coshocton teacher, choral director, and church musician. Snyder says the theme for this concert, “Come, Let Us Adore,” was inspired by focusing on the hope and joy of this holy season.
“Choosing a theme for the concert helps me think about possible songs for the three choirs, ideas of carols for all of us to sing, and what instruments we might use,” Snyder said. “This concert theme was also the result of listening to an exciting newer arrangement of the familiar carol, ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful.’ I think the audience will enjoy that thrilling setting at our December 4 concert.”
"Each year the Christmas Festival Concert’s theme gives Tom Kulewicz, the Choir’s artist since 1988, ideas for the program cover he then creates," Snyder added. "The theme also prompts ideas for the concert narration. The Reverend Richard K. Hoover, retired pastor of Roscoe United Methodist Church, in Coshocton, has crafted the narrations since 2013."
The concert program explores a wide mix of songs in a variety of styles, including a processional, "Come to the Water," composed by John Foley, S.J.; Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium" (O Great Mystery); Jack Halloran's setting of "Go Tell It on the Mountain," arranged for Fred Waring and the Pennsylanians and soloists Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby; and the traditional "Stay With Us," composed by Egil Hovland.
The Christmas Festival Concert will again include “Carols in the Round”: the Community Choir will leave the stage and assemble in small groups and surround the audience.
"After every concert, I hear from a few local residents who had not known there was a Community Choir here, and experienced our concert because someone invited them," Snyder shared. "Their joy and delight is obvious as they share their experience. We encourage you to invite someone to join you for our 51st Christmas Festival Concert, ‘Come, Let Us Adore!’"
The Choir is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that meets the expenses involved in preparing for concerts each year through ticket sales and an annual fund campaign that’s underway for the 2022-2023 season now. Contributions to support the Choir can be mailed to the Choir at: PO Box 1648, Coshocton, Ohio 43812.
Tickets for the 90-minute concert are $10 for adults and $5 for students and are available pre-sale from choir members and online at CoshoctonCommunityChoir.org. Tickets will also be available at the door the afternoon of the concert.
For more information about the Coshocton Community Choir, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, The Coshocton Singers, or the Coshocton Youth Chorale, visit coshoctoncommunitychoir.org, call the Choir office at 740-623-0554 or find the Choir on Facebook.