Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Christmas Carol Concert

My goodness! Four months left in the year, and we are already talking about Christmas! But we haven't much option, because we have two amazing Christmas presents for you.
 
The first is a selection of fabulous pieces taken from Bach's Christmas Oratorio. We would quite like to sing it all for you, but we think that you might find 2 hours 37mins just a bit long. We are very mindful that we can “have too much of a good thing”, so we have picked out the best bits and will tailor the length of the concert to about 90 minutes. We will have two female soloists and a small orchestra. So this is going to be quite an occasion. Also, you will find that the choir has grown. Instead of the usual 45-50 singers, you will find that we will almost certainly be over 60 singers – yes, we know, quantity doesn't necessarily mean quality – but we have landed some outstanding singers and I know you are going to be delighted by the added depth and delicacy that can be achieved with a good, larger choir.
 
We are doing something different with the performance time. This concert at St Peters Presbyterian Church starts at 5.30p.m. on Saturday 11 November! No, that is not a misprint! There are several reasons for this:
 
Daylight saving will be well established, so this early evening start says you can (a) Go out to dinner afterwards (b) go home and mow your lawns or do some weeding in the cool of a late spring evening (c) have a later dinner time at home on the deck, watching the sun go down over the Kaimais, while sipping a lovely Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc (d) filled to the brim -should I say sated or replete with a meal of the finest Bach – you may decide to sip on a glass of water, with no thoughts of food, oblivious to the strange stares from your neighbours, as you hum (slightly out of tune) excerpts from the early evening musical feast you have just enjoyed (e) excited by the sheer, ravishing, musical beauty of all that you have just experienced, you call in on your best friends – just as they are starting dessert – to whom you will rave and emote ad nauseum  about what they have just missed. Ah well. Friendships don't always last forever.
 
So you get the message. We think this is a great time for a concert, and an opportunity for you to break out of your boring old routine!!
 
Our final concert for the year is on Sunday 10 December, at the Tauranga Art Gallery at 2.00p.m. This relatively small space has the most amazing acoustics. In this space, the mundane becomes fresh and exciting, the hackneyed sounds as you've never heard it before, old sounds new, boring becomes scintillating, and we jaded, run down choristers, after another year of practice and performance, get a new lease on life, have a ball, sing our hearts out, and put on what could be the performance of the year. What's more, it’s a complete steal. Entry by gold coin donation. So get to work checking under the cushions on your couch. Find those dollar coins or $2.00 coins if you are feeling generous. But do come. This is our finale for 2017, and it will be a BLAST!! I can guarantee that you will enjoy every minute of it.

 Thank you all soooooo much for your support during the year. Next year is going to be something special. We have some exciting concerts, but the most exciting will be an Armistice Day 100 Year Commemoration Concert on 11th November 2018. This will be held at Holy Trinity Church. It will be sad, fun, laughter filled, dramatic, sobering, a time to reflect, an occasion not to be missed. Waipuna Hospice will be the beneficiaries from the door sales. Make a note of it now. Make sure it is in your diary, your computer schedule, marked on the calendar, stored in your phone. Whatever you do, this will be the concert of the year in the Bay of Plenty. Make sure you are not one of the disappointed ones who miss out.
 
I'll chat to you again. Cheers!
John Wanhill