Singing Heavenly Songs

Joy To The World: Bosque Chorale & Bosque Children’s Choir spread Christmas spirit & cheer through angelic music at the Bosque Arts Center’s Frazier Performance Hall in Clifton

CLIFTON – With many familiar faces taking the stage in the 101-year-old third floor auditorium at the Bosque Arts Center, the Bosque Chorale filled the Frazier Performance Hall for the 21st time, as its annual Christmas concert "Sing Joy" inundated the audience with the awe of their incredible skill and talents Dec. 12.

The 34 vocalists joined by longtime Chorale conductor David Anavitarte and pianist Kenny Balinao on the 1925 Chickering Grand Piano for a diversity of Christmas carols, songs and hymns, some familiar and some less familiar songs, but all in exultation and all sure to bring the audience in the Christmas Spirit. And many of the musical pieces had new and fresh arrangements by contemporary composers.

The concert’s name came from a Mark Hayes medley “Sing Joy” which included season classics “Joy to the World, “For Unto Us a Child is Born,” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” in a celebration of the birth of Christ. Hayes masterfully pulls the three classics together, combining traditional voicing with new harmonic colors.

Hayes also arranged the medley “Christmas Bells Are Ringing,” a dynamic and challenging an acapella trio songs of “Carol of the Bells,” “Ding Dong! Merrily on High!” and “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” with a bold opening and dramatic ending that sounded incredible.

Under Anavitarte’s passionate, engaging, demanding and driven guidance and directing, the chorale presented as a well-oiled machine, taking the music to new, heavenly heights offering pure joy.

“The Bosque Chorale is always absolutely superb!” Sue Fielden commented. “I sincerely appreciate the time and talent dedicated by each Chorale member, the Director and musicians. And all who help to achieve such a special evening.”

Always inviting the audience to open the evening with the chorale singing “Amazing Grace” and the “Star Spangled Banner.” The opening song of the chorale’s performance, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” as arranged by Terre Johnson started like an acapella, plainsong chant, only to change rhythm and crescendo, giving goosebumps and fading softly back into the chant it started with, “Ever More, Ever More.”

The beloved Christmas/Advent hymn expressing Jesus’ divinity, eternality and humanity, has traveled an amazing journey through 17 centuries and at least four countries: a Latin poem from a Catholic Spanish poet Marcus Aurelius Prudentius Clemens in the fourth century, to a tune from Italy in the 11th century, and to a 19th-century English translation, and a harmonization in the 20th century different composers.

Johnson holds degrees in choral music education and conducting from Troy University, Auburn University, and Florida State University. In July of 2023 he assumed the role of Chair of the Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music at Georgia Southern University.

The gentle tempo of Marianne Forman’s new arrangement of the traditional carol “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” conjured up images of Victorian street lights reflecting on the wet cobblestoned street, people bustling home with baskets filled with jams, jellies and other goodies; smoke crinkling up into the crisp evening air.

Unitarian Church pastor Edmund Sears in 1849 wrote the words as a poem/Christmas carol with a tune from Richard Storrs Willis. Forman holds a B.S. in Music Education with concentrations in piano and choral music and her sacred and concert choral pieces have been performed around the world. Her works are appreciated for their compelling melodies and accessible settings, like this compelling blend of comforting familiarity and fresh interest for “that glorious song of old.”

Heather Sorenson’s contemporary arrangement of the time-honored Christmas carol “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” channeled upbeat Celtic folk songs infused with vital and syncopated rhythms. The choir dialogues back and forth with the well-known "tidings of comfort and joy" phrase, building the crescendo of praise to an exalted close of “of joy, great joy, great, great joy,”

The youthful, Dallas-based pianist and composer Sorenson easily maneuvers both the traditional and contemporary genres of Christian music, often combining the two for a unique blend. Allowing the choir to catch their breath for a bit, Anavitarte urged and directed the audience to sing along with “Joy to the World,” “First Noel,” and “Away in a Manger.”

The gentle, nearly dreamy, with many elongated notes “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” by another young composer Dan Forrest, lulled the rag-wrapped baby in the manger, calmed the dusty and weary animals in the stable, reveals Joseph and Mary’s astonishment and awe, and brought the audience to contemplate the humble, yet glorious biblical scene.

Forrest holds a doctorate in composition from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in piano performance, and is a Fellow of Melodious Accord. He currently serves as adjunct Professor of Composition at Furman University. He currently serves as Editor at Beckenhorst Press, Chair of the American Choral Director’s Association Composition Initiatives Committee, adjunct Faculty at Furman University, and Artist-In-Residence at Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church, Greenville, SC.

Forrest also wrote the music to Leslie Leyland Fields’ hymn “Let the Stable Still Astonish.” His arrangement goes from quiet reflection to powerful exclamation providing the perfect canvas for Fields' words of profound depth and meaning.

Forrest’s arrangement of Franz Gruber’s timeless carol “Silent Night” from 1818 movingly and solemnly building from “All is Calm,” to the strong and intense “Christ, the Savior, is Born,” sincerely closed the concert. Only to be followed by the triumphant and climactic proclamation “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s “Messiah,” leading to a standing ovation from the impressed listeners.

Though the “Messiah” is now a yuletide staple, Handel conceived the work as an Easter offering, and it was first performed during Lent. The work’s first third deals with the birth of Jesus. The second act which culminates in the Hallelujah chorus, covers the death of Jesus and the third on his resurrection.

While Anavitarte mentioned this was one of the most challenging concerts for the chorale, the audience clearly felt it was one of the best they have heard the chorale perform.

With Beth Fry’s retirement from the Clifton Independent School District, the Clifton Elementary Honors Choir unfortunately disbanded. Founded in 2009, the Bosque Civic Music Association seeks to provide opportunities for all citizens – students and adults – to experience performances of the musical arts, and encourages the appreciation, education, and development of individual and group talents.

With that in mind, the BCMA, thanks to the generosity of the Petol Posey Giving Fund was able to establish the Bosque County Children’s Choir, directed by Fry. “We hope they become future Bosque Chorale members,” BCMA President Kathy Harr said in her introduction.

After just two months of practicing for their Christmas concert – additionally coached by Beth Hatcher Andreas Villapando and Marsha Brown – the 19 youth performed for the first time in the Frazier Performance Hall prior to the Bosque Chorale concert. Not only did the youth – first to fifth graders – sing, they rang bells, and added choreography.

Fun songs like “Jingle Bells,” “All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,” and “Pat-a-Pan” had the audience tapping along and proudly admiring the youth’s achievements. To add to the cuteness, the children’s choir all wore Christmas Tree hats for the song “I’m The Happiest Christmas Tree.”

Clearly enjoying themselves the whole time, they ended their concert with Alan Jackson’s country Christmas song “Let it be Christmas,” with the heartwarming true Christmas spirit message of heavenly music filling the air, spreading the story of hope, joy and peace, and love to last through the year.

There is no shortage of church cantatas and school concerts leading up to Christmas, but the chorale’s performances never cease to amaze and they always succeed in capturing the true spirit of Christmas, sharing the season’s joy through their songs and hymns.