Three community choirs in Port Alberni are getting ready for the Christmas season with three very different Christmas concerts.
Urbanstreet Choir will kick off the Christmas concert lineup on Saturday, Dec. 2 with their show “Christmas Vibes.” Directors Janet Schlackl, Sandy Bouleau and Colleen Brooks warn that this isn’t your traditional Christmas music.
“It’s very upbeat and fun,” explained Brooks. “Some of it is even silly.” She hinted that one of the songs will feature accompaniment on kazoo.
There will also be traditional Christmas songs performed in a different style, featuring every genre from jazz to country.
“Janet [Schlackl] does a good job of picking out stuff and making it fit together,” said Bouleau. “You can tell the choir is having a good time—which is what we’re all about.”
The choir has a few new members this year, with room for “a couple more” in the new year. Anyone interested can reach Urbanstreet Choir at urbanstreetchoir@gmail.com.
Christmas Vibes takes place at the Alberni Valley United Church (3747 Church Street) at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at Walk the Coast, from choir members or at the door.
“It’s a great opportunity to put people in the Christmas spirit,” said Brooks. “It brings out the nostalgia of the season. And it’s the beginning of a series of three concerts this year.”
Barkley Sounds Community Choir will also present their Christmas concert at the Alberni Valley United Church just a day after Urbanstreet, on Sunday, Dec. 3. The show begins at 2:30 p.m.
A special guest of note this year is the Phil’s Harmonics String Orchestra with Jeremy Rainer, a 13-year-old viola phenom from Nanaimo. Other guests include Dennis Olsen, Guy Langlois and Graham Villette and the Alberni Valley United Church Handbell Ensemble.
Tickets for the show are available at the Grove Art Gallery, Echo Centre and from choir members. Adults $15 - under 12 $5.00. For more information, visit facebook.com/barkleysounds.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Dec. 10, Timbre! Choir will be bringing back its first Christmas concert since 2019 with “A Rhapsody of Christmas.” Although the choir was able to start up again in late 2022, their first post-COVID concert last year had to be cancelled due to illness.
Now the choir is back and ready to perform again after celebrating its 50th anniversary in the spring. Frances Ketteringham, president of the choir, attributes the group’s success to its high-quality calibre of musical directors over the years. The choir is currently directed by Rosemary Lindsay and is the only auditioned choir in Port Alberni.
“We’ve been so fortunate to be conducted by first-rate conductors,” Ketteringham said. “There’s a spirit in Timbre! that’s second to none. It’s a wonderful sense of community, of working together and creating music. We also have a hugely supportive audience. When we come out on stage to sing, you can just feel the energy from the audience. That’s what keeps us going all these years later.”
Three members of the choir were in the original Timbre! Choir when it began 50 years ago. The group will also be joined this Christmas season by several members of the Chor Leoni choir in Vancouver to shore up the men’s section, and will be accompanied by accomplished pianist Danielle Marcinek.
Ketteringham says Port Alberni is “very fortunate” to have three choirs performing this Christmas.
“They’re all different,” she said.
A Rhapsody of Christmas begins at 2:30 p.m. at the ADSS Theatre. Tickets are available from choir members, at the Echo centre, at Finishing Touches, at the Grove Art Gallery, at Salmonberry’s, online at www.eventbrite.ca or at the door.