By WAYLAND WHITLEY

The Beaufort County 300th Anniversary Celebration Committee invited the Elizabeth City State University Choir to Beaufort County to assist in the completion of its yearlong celebration of the county’s 300-year history. The invitation was accepted by Walter R. Swan, the choral director of the Elizabeth City State University Choir.
On Dec. 6 at 7 p.m., the Elizabeth City State University Choir, under the directions of Swan, took center stage at Northside High School in Pantego. Man, did they come to put on a show! The selections for the evening were from Johannes Sebastian Bach’s “Bach Magnificat” and featured such arrangements as “My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord,” “My Spirit Hath Rejoiced,” “For He has Regarded,” and “For Behold, All Generations,” just to name a few. Also as part of the program, the chamber singers preformed “O Blessed Jesus.” The song “I Love The Lord” was preformed by Pearlie Turner, Lorticha Turner and Chela Faulkner. The songs “Mary Had A Baby” was performed by Chela Faulkner. “Mary’s Little Boy Chile”was performed by Jerome Burwell Jr. The songs added additional seasonal flavor to the concert.
The sounds of the season were enriched by the angelic voices of the male ensemble’s rendition of “Twelve Days Of Christmas.” The song came alive as the men employed the use of comedy flair with regular, rap, country and classical music all rolled into one song. As usual, no Christmas concert would be complete without the performance of Irvin Berlin’s all-time hit, “White Christmas.”
As a special treat, Swan introduced to the audience one of his choir members, Denicia Hamilton, as one of Beaufort County’s own. Hamilton is a resident of Aurora and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Hamilton. Hamilton, a junior, is studying to be a music major, with emphasis on vocal performance.
The committee thanks Swan and his choir for providing Beaufort County residents a performance worthy of any Broadway show that I have ever seen.

Wayland Whitley is a member of the Beaufort County 300th Anniversary Celebration Committee.