By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—Brandon village was picture perfect on Sunday afternoon, with holiday lights twining around all the lampposts. But it wouldn’t really be the holiday season in Brandon without the annual Christmas concert by the Brandon Festival Singers at the Brandon Congregational Church.
The concert is now 43 years old, but because of time lost to Covid in 2020 and 2021, this year’s concert on Sunday was only the 41st, helmed as usual by the talented Gene and Jean Childers (as director and piano accompanist, respectively) and featuring singers and instrumentalists from the local community.
A program of nearly 20 holiday tunes, performed beautifully, put the audience in the holiday spirit. This wasn’t the typical Christmas fare, however. Mr. Childers had carefully selected pieces that were clearly Christmas-themed and yet also unconventional in some way.
For example, the classic “Silent Night” was delivered with graceful sensitivity as a piano solo by Mrs. Childers and “O, Little Town of Bethlehem” was performed exquisitely by flautist Julia Murach, the music teacher at Neshobe School.
Ms. Murach contributed her skills to other unconventional and effective arrangements: a surprisingly beautiful “mashup” of “The First Noel” and Pachelbel’s Canon, with Ms. Murach playing the Canon on the flute while the chorus sang the carol; and a fun, up-tempo piece called “Calypso Lullaby,” which also featured chorus member Martha Welch on the electric bass.
The chorus blended wonderfully, producing a lovely tone that resonated in the sanctuary. The singer s also seemed game for anything, moving from one style to another without a hitch.
“Come On Down to Bethlehem,” for example, had a slightly hippie groove reminiscent of late-60s/early-70s showtunes from “Hair” or “Godspell,” while the very next song, “Jesus, Oh, What a Wonderful Child,” was straight-up gospel. And the chorus went from one to the next seamlessly.
Mr. Childers singled out the soprano section for a sweet tune called “Lullaby Noel” (written by Mr. Childers) and divided the chorus into sections for a multi-part round (with audience participation) called “Dona Nobis Pacem.”
Chorus member Sue Wetmore recited a Latin text and member Bernie Carr offered its English translation to introduce a piece called “Ecce Novum.”
Mr. Childers also offered up some of his original compositions. There was a 1950s doo-wop-influenced piece in 12/8 time called “A Star Shone over Bethlehem.” The bass section clearly enjoyed singing that one. Mr. Childers also set an old text called “Rejoice and Be Merry” to his original music, arranged for harpsichord (played on an electric keyboard by the astoundingly versatile Mrs. Childers).
One of the highlights of the program was surely the duet between tenor Josh Collier of Brandon’s BARN OPERA and soprano chorus member Hilary Collier, who is married to Mr. Collier. They performed “The Prayer,” a contemporary English-Italian composition. The couple both sang wonderfully, though Mr. Collier proved his operatic chops by sending his voice to the rafters without aid of a microphone, much to the delight of the audience.
At the end of the program, Mr. Childers requested a “do over” of the ending of one of the final pieces, taking the blame for what he felt was suboptimal conducting on his part.
“It’s not fair,” he said. “They nail it every time.” And so they nailed the redo.
Mr. Childers thanked the Reverend Sara Rossigg and the Congregational Church, the singers, the instrumentalists, the indefatigable Mrs. Childers and her page-turner Hillary Knapp, and the audience. Chorus member Bernie Carr, in turn, thanked Mr. Childers on behalf of the ensemble.
The chorus filed out of the sanctuary singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and the audience left the concert full of holiday cheer.
