By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
jonathan@wdnweb.com
Staff Writer
By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
Need further proof the holidays are just around the corner?
All you need do is look to two annual Christmas concerts scheduled by the Beaufort County Choral Society.
The society will sing at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Washington High School Performing Arts Center.
A second series of songs will be projected by the society at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Bath.
Admission will be free, though donations will be accepted, the organizers said.
For more information, call the Beaufort County Arts Council at 252-946-2504.
At the WHS performance, the singing society will be paired with the River City Ringers, a handbell choir ringing under the direction of Sally Love.
Selections to be performed by the vocalists include “Carols Around,” “The Snow Lay on the Ground,” “Angels from the Realms of Glory” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” said Susan McFarland, a society board member.
“We’ve pulled together, I think, a selection of some beautiful pieces for Christmas,” McFarland said. “Some are more lively, some are more traditional. I think it’ll be a varied program.”
The choral society has around 60 members, said Susan Crawford, conductor.
The society continues to recruit vocalists, Crawford related.
“We are very much in need of a few more altos, but we are open for anyone,” she said.
Most everyone in the choir has experience in reading music, but that’s not a prerequisite for membership, Crawford added.
“It’s not absolutely necessary, but it helps,” she said.
The choral society is supported partly by a Grassroots grant from the state, distributed by the arts council, said Joey Toler, executive director of the arts council.
The arts council also supports the society’s annual Christmas concert — the WHS performance — with money the City of Washington provides for the HeArt of the City concert series, Toler related.
“The choral society is one of the oldest arts organizations in Beaufort County, and it has always lived on because of its members and the people that are involved, and it almost runs entirely on donations,” he said. “I just encourage the community to come out and support them and be involved and participate in what they do.”