By Dick Milanese
On Sunday, December 18, our choir presented a cantata to a full house at the church. The cantata, GO SING IT ON THE MOUNTAIN, was a highly inventive mix of storytelling, Appalachian Mountain melodies, folk tunes from Ireland and Scotland, and Spirituals mixed with tunes from familiar carols of the Advent and Christmas season that celebrate the birth of the Messiah.
The text and music by Pepper Choplin featured 28 singers from our choir as well as six musicians and two narrators. It covered the period from the Annunciation through the birth of Jesus, His naming, the visit by the Magi, the announcement of His birth by the shepherds, and His death, and ended with a rousing encore of the Alleluia Chorus from Handel’s Messiah and two standing ovations.
The church was packed and everyone was mesmerized by the outstanding performance. Steve Raml led the performance which featured Robert De Fries and Joyce Voss as narrators, Nancy Kuuos, Sandy Gordon, and Brian White as soloists, Ann Marie Carlson and Michael Wieser, and Monica Weeks and Mark Carlson as duets.
Father Killian filmed the event and said the Cantata would be featured on the Parish web site for anyone interested in seeing it. This was the second annual cantata by the choir and was what should be an annual event for us all to look forward to.
