Just as you thought you knew your Christmas carols, South Burnett Chorale will put a twist on the traditional tunes.
The choir will perform two ‘Carols, But Not as You Know Them’ concerts this month, one in Nanango this Sunday 24 November and the other in Kingaroy next Saturday 30 November.
Musical Director Julee-anne Bell will lead the Chorale through a series of Christmas favourites that have been slightly changed up to keep it fresh.
Audience members will be treated to familiar carols such as Winter Wonderland, and The Christmas Song -better known as Chestnuts Roasting on An Open Fire. The choir will also perform some lesser known English and medieval carols.
The concerts will present opportunties for some community singing so concert goers are encouraged to bring their best singing voices.
Ms Bell’s favourite piece from the program is Sweet Silent Night.
“It takes the idea of ‘Silent Night’ and transforms it into a piece about snow and stars in a way that still respects the original music,” she said.
The two concerts have a dual fundraising role, supporting the not-for-profit chorale’s general running costs and fundraising for local charities.
Half of the Christmas concert ticket sales will be donated to charities selected by each of the host churches -Nanango’s Our Lady, Help of Christians Catholic Church this Sunday will raise funds for a building project at OLHC and next weekend’s concert at Kingaroy Church of Christ will support Eva’s Place in Kingaroy.
“We couldn’t do this concert without Georgina Graham, our president, and the rest of our executive,” Ms Bell said.
“We are blessed to have found a most wonderful accompanist in Gayle Pryce-Davies, although these will also be Gayle’s last concerts as she and her husband have made the difficult decision to move away to be closer to their children and grandchildren. We are also blessed to have Libby Leu-Marshall as our patron.”
These concerts will be particularly special for Ms Bell as this will be her last concert as the chorale’s Musical Director.
“I’m heading out on tour with my own show and the schedule looks hectic to say the least. It wouldn’t be fair to give the Chorale anything less than my best,” Ms Bell said.
South Burnett Chorale started in 1996, currently has about 30 members and is a non-auditioned group open to anyone.
“They need to be prepared to learn and have an awful lot of fun and plenty of laughs. We are open to anyone from high school age upwards,” Ms Bell said.
South Burnett Chorale’s ‘Carols, But Not as You Know Them’ concert will be performed this Sunday, 24 November at 3pm at Our Lady, Help of Christians Catholic Church (37 Gipps St, Nanango).
The Chorale will also perform at Kingaroy Church of Christ (254 Haly St, Kingaroy) at 3pm on Saturday, 30 November.
Tickets are $15 each (children under 12 are free) and includes a light afternoon tea put on by members of the church. The tickets can be purchased online via trybooking or at the door of each concert.
