Choruses Joining For One Evening Of Song

WOODBURY — The Connecticut Choral Society Chamber Singers and the Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC) Gospel Choir will present a joint concert on Friday, December 5, at 7:30 pm.

The concert, celebrating the opening of the 2008 Woodbury Christmas Festival and the Christmas season, is open to the public and will be held in the sanctuary of North Congregational Church, 11 Main Street North. This is the fifth time the two groups have collaborated.

The concert will open with the Chamber Singers, whose a cappella repertoire includes arrangements of traditional Christmas carols as well as holiday music both familiar and unusual. The Chamber Singers, a subset of the larger Connecticut Choral Society (CCS), have presented concerts to open the Woodbury Christmas Festival for a number of years.

Formed in 1988, the Chamber Singers perform a repertoire of delightful eclectic music including madrigals, spirituals, folk songs and popular and seasonal favorites.

The NVCC Gospel Choir is in its eighth season. Their repertoire is rousing yet warm, including carols sung in the gospel style.

The Gospel Choir was formed in 2000 through the vision of Stuart Gillespie, former head of the music department at the college, who was seeking ways to involve more students and attract a diverse group of singers. He felt a gospel choir would be a good addition to the existing musical offerings and approached James Hurdle, choir director of the Zion Baptist Church in Waterbury, to help in establishing a gospel choir at NVCC.

The Gospel Choir is comprised of students and community members, several of whom have been in the group since the first season. The choir has given concerts at the college as well as several area churches. Among the memorable experiences for the group was participating in two Martin Luther King/Black History Month events. The group also served as the choral accompaniment to three plays written and produced by an NVCC professor.

North Congregational Church is at the intersection of Main Street (Route 6) and Route 47, across from Canfield Corners in Woodbury. Parking is available behind the church.

A free will offering will be accepted, and a reception will follow the concert.

Call Bonnie Stephens, 263-0788, for additional information.