by Kathleen Wells, Owner, Foghara Advertising and Public Relations
The hustle and bustle (frantic running around) of the holiday season includes house cleaning (guests are coming), menu planning (you’ve got to feed them), decorating, shopping, shopping and more shopping. Fighting the traffic and crowds to get those errands done takes time and depletes whatever patience you had stored up since last year. Still, it’s a time when enjoying our beautiful community and the bonhomie of fellow residents is a delightful experience. Don’t forget we are Arizona’s Christmas City.
How do you break away from the stress, kick back and soak up the joy? Nothing evokes happy emotions like music, and never more so than at Christmas time. It brings back memories from childhood and, for whatever reason, makes us want to share it — so much so that we even force it upon our offspring, so that the songs we enjoyed (or detested) live on through them. From the classics and sacred, to more contemporary, elegant and even cheesy, holiday music stirs us like no other. Enjoy it for yourself, and even treat those visiting friends and family to a live concert.
The Prescott community is blessed to have an abundance of talented musicians and several local music organizations that perform live concerts. Two of our local groups will be presenting holiday programs this December.
On Saturday, Dec. 9, the Prescott Chorale once again presents a program of beautiful holiday music with Holiday Joy performed by some of Prescott’s most gifted vocalists. Director Dennis Houser leads the 60-person vocal group through a selection of sacred and traditional songs in two concert performances at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. More information is available by visiting PrescottChorale.org.
On Sunday, Dec. 10, Maestro Joseph Place and the Prescott POPS Symphony present their annual Christmas concert, It’s The Most Wonderful Time of Year at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center. From “The Bells of Christmas,” the “Hallelujah Chorus,” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” to “A Christmas Carol” and other favorites, the POPS Symphony and the POPS Choir (under the direction of Darrell Rowader) will enchant you with superb performances sure to lift your heart and put you in the spirit of the season. More information is available at PrescottPOPS.com. Tickets are available at the YCPAC Box Office via phone at 928-776-2000, or online at YCPAC.com
Take pride in our wonderful community, and partake of its musical bounty. Here is a list of our exceedingly talented local groups, which you should definitely make a point to see and hear! Happy Holidays!
- Prescott POPS Symphony – Celebrating 25th Season – PrescottPOPS.com.
- Prescott Chamber Orchestra – Celebrating 35th Season – PrescottChamberOrchestra.com. The next concert is Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018.
- Central Arizona Concert Band – Celebrating 20th Season – CentralArizonaConcertBand.com. The next concert is Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018.
- Prescott Chorale – In its 3rd Season – PrescottChorale.org.
- Camerata Singers – In its 3rd Season – CamerataSingersAZ.com. The next concert is Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018.