The Holiday Season Begins

This is the first year in more than a decade that I haven't participated in a choir and sung in a Christmas concert, a thought that made me briefly nostalgic this afternoon at the Bellingham Chamber Chorale's "A Classical Christmas" concert.

And then I settled back in my chair and let the waves of glorious music swirl over me, and was glad that I hadn't had weeks of rehearsals, and hours of practice at home, and the fever pitch of the dress rehearsal prior to the concert, and the stress of the concert itself -- just the pleasure of listening.

Bellingham Chamber Chorale, now in its 10th season, is the one of the best choirs in the region. With a core membership of 35 to 40 singers, expanded when needed for larger works, the chorale presents challenging works from the Renaissance to the 20th century in three concerts annually.

Today's concert was in the First Congregational Church, which has the best acoustics of all the churches in Bellingham, in my opinion -- and also the most comfortable seats, an important consideration!

Phil and I particularly enjoyed the first half of the concert, which featured a stirring work by Vaclav Nelhybel, Estampie* Natalis, and Daniel Pinkham's glorious Christmas Canata (Sinfonia Sacra), with a double brass quintet.

We're very grateful to our friend Jill, who sings in Bellingham Chamber Chorale, for the gift of tickets to this memorable event.

After the concert, we enjoyed perfectly cooked fish and chips and a pint of beer (Phil) and a creamy squash risotto with kale and a glass of white wine (me) at the Copper Hog. It was a lovely outing -- and I'll catch up with comments tomorrow.


*An estampie is a medieval dance and musical form.