Community Choir to put on Christmas concert on Friday, Dec. 16
—Courtesy photo Accompanist Barb Nelson (left) poses for a photo with Vicki Blake Thompson, conductor of the Bonners Ferry Community Choir.
Bonners Ferry Community Choir will present “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All” on Friday, Dec. 16th at 7:30 p.m., and on Sunday, Dec. 18th at 3 p.m. Both performances are at Trinity Lutheran Church, located just off Highway 95 on Cody Street in Bonners Ferry. Tickets are by donation at the door with a recommended donation of $10 for adults, $5 for students and $25 for a family.
The Community Choir has presented annual Christmas concerts for over forty years and this year marks number 39 for the Barb Nelson and Vicki Blake Thompson duo. Barb Nelson conducted the choir for 18 years and she is now the accompanist. This is the 21st annual concert for current conductor Vicki Blake Thompson. For both of them, this is a work of love for the Bonners Ferry community, and a way for everyone to celebrate the deeper meaning of Christmas.
This year’s theme is three-part: the cry of the people, the story itself, and the many images and traditions which have come to be a part of Christmas celebrations. Music includes new Christmas music as well as familiars like “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, “The Holly and the Ivy”, “Mary Did You Know”, and “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. An audience sing-along includes “Silent Night”, “Angels We Have Heard on High”, “O Holy Night” and more. The music draws from a wide variety of styles and genres.
The choir’s performances will be enhanced by the performance of Rosie Samter, who grew up in Bonners Ferry.
Rosie is a professional viola player currently living in Boston, Mass. Other instrumentalists will include Shirley Cameron from Creston, B.C. and Jim Thompson, both on the EWI (electronic wind instrument), along with various percussionists drawn from the choir. Diane Olsen, a popular Bonners Ferry piano instructor, will play with Barb Nelson on three different four-hand piano pieces. Vocal soloists from the choir include: India Kucherry, DJ Cruttenden, Si Thompson, Clarice McKenney, Stewart Yoder, Amy Stuermer, Rhea Verbanic (all from Bonners Ferry), Gail Southall (Creston), Jim and Angie Hagen (Sandpoint), and Colleen Lewis (Sandpoint).
For more information on this year’s Christmas concert, contact Vicki Blake Thompson at: vickiblake1@mac.com or by calling (208) 643-9621.