A Season of Concerts - Gala Up Next

This truly is a season of concerts, and the Evanston Civic Chorus is gearing up for its final performance of the year this Sunday when it hosts the Evanston Community Christmas Gala.  We're pretty excited about the concert.  We've got several church music groups in the lineup along with several vocal ensembles, brass and flute choirs, and the Civic Orchestra.  Here are the details:

Evanston Community Christmas Gala

Sunday, December 18, 2011

7:00 p.m.

Davis Middle School

Free Admission

Kirk has designed the stage setup to eliminate set changes between songs.  We anticipate the concert will flow very smoothly.  It'll be a great event for families.

Chorus members performed recently in a couple of Christmas events.  On December 1st we were in the Parade of Lights.  It was absolutely frigid and windy that evening, but we still had a great time singing as loud as we could from our trailer "float."  Kirk dressed as Santa.  I thought that was a pretty clever way to get another warm layer on.  Thanks to Deb for arranging for our parade transportation.

Last Sunday, Chorus members joined with the LDS Evanston South Stake Choir to sing "O Holy Night" during their Christmas musical program.  It turned out to be a great experience from both perspectives.  Chorus members enjoyed participating and appreciated the invitation.  Since I was involved in the Stake Choir I can say that we truly enjoyed performing this song together and are glad for ECC members that could come to our program.  We'll be joining together again with some other church choral groups and the orchestra to perform "O Holy Night" at the Gala.  We hope to see you there!

by Sara

ECC Starts Christmas Music This Week

The Christmas season is always a favorite with the Evanston Civic Chorus, and we're excited to jump into new music this week on Wednesday, Nov. 16th.  This is a great time to join us!

We've got a couple of holiday events scheduled so far:

• December 1st - We're planning to be in the Parade of Lights as Christmas carolers.  In the past we've strolled around downtown singing in different businesses.  This year we're planning to sing our carols on a float in the parade.  
• December 18th - We're hosting the 3rd biennial Evanston Community Christmas Gala concert.

Evanston Community Christmas Gala

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

7:00 p.m.

Davis Middle School

Free Admission

2009 - Combined Choir and Orchestra

The Civic Chorus and Chamber Choir will each prepare a song for the Gala. In addition, the Chorus will form the nucleus of a combined choir which will sing "O Holy Night," accompanied by the Evanston Civic Orchestra.  We formed a combined choir for the 2009 Gala and it was a great success.  We already have several local church choral groups signed up to be in the Gala and in the combined choir.

All singers in the Evanston area are invited to be in the combined choir.  If you don't belong to a participating choral group, come sing with the Civic Chorus!  Even if you are in a different choral group, come sing with us.  I'm involved in three different choirs this year, plus the orchestra.  It's great fun!

I hope to see many of you on Wednesday at 7:00 in the EHS choir room!

 by Sara

ECC Christmas Carols Downtown - Dec. 2, 2010

More Photos

Last Thursday, members of the Chorus gathered to sing Christmas carols during the Downtown Merchants Open House and Parade of Lights.  Thanks to the businesses for letting us step inside and share our music!

Part of the fun in this annual activity of the Chorus is that it is for family and friends too.  And passersby are always welcome to join us!

Weatherwise, we were lucky; the warm spell came just in time.  It was nice not to concern ourselves too much with frozen ears and fingers as we have in years past.

I've always loved Christmas caroling, and am glad the Evanston Civic Chorus has made this an annual tradition.  It's hard to pick a favorite carol, but I think I'll have to go with "Angels We Have Heard on High."  What is your favorite?  Cast your vote in our new poll on our website.

by Sara

Christmas Concert at Library - 2009

The evening of December 3rd was very busy for the Civic Chorus. We started with our

Christmas Concert at the Uinta County Library at 5:30. This was our first time singing there. And it was my first time playing on a white piano. I played a little prelude music before the concert so I could get used to the keyboard. I played my favorites and even got a couple of requests from the gathering audience. This was our program:

• Do You Hear What I Hear?
• Kyrie
• An Irving Berlin Christmas
• Born on a New Day
• The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
• Joy to the World

The first two songs were favorites with the Chorus, as well as "Born on a New Day." Many in the audience particularly enjoyed "Joy to the World." Really, though, the whole concert was fun because we were singing Christmas music. And on top of that, it was fun to be loud in the library without anyone telling us to be quiet. View More Photos

After the concert, we rushed out to mingle with the crowd and sing carols at the Downtown Merchants Open House and Parade of Lights. We are becoming a familiar group at this annual event. I particularly liked singing inside of different businesses where we could look at our music and sing parts instead of singing in the dark outside and winging it.

Next we had a dress rehearsal with the Evanston Civic Orchestra and combined choir to put together "Joy to the World." It was super fun singing with the orchestra and this will definitely be a highlight of the Community Christmas Gala on the 10th. View More Photos