SO Repertory Singers bring A Ceremony of Carols to Medford and Ashland
By KOBI-TV NBC5
MEDFORD & ASHLAND, Ore — Listening to Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” evokes the feeling that a better world is possible. The piece will be featured in the Southern Oregon Repertory Singers’ holiday concert of the same name. Music director Paul French joined Emily Storm on Sunrise to share his thoughts on the season, the world we live in, and how this concert is right for the moment.
French says the Christmas concert is the hardest to program, because the holidays are so important to people and music is a big part of that. He says, “I make a special effort to get it right and give people big heart music.” He adds, “I go for pieces that I know are going to go right to people’s hearts and make them feel good about the world.” The Repertory Singers are in the middle of the 40th season, with singers from all over Southern Oregon, from Klamath Falls to Cave Junction, and as far north as Roseburg. The group now has about 70 members, up from around 20 40 years ago. French says he tries to choose pieces and themes that give audiences a respite from hard things happening everywhere in the world. He says, “We’re able to sing these concerts that people find meaningful. It’s not unusual to see people actually crying in the audience hearing how beautiful it is. In fact, our last big orchestral concert in the spring, there were people in the group and in the orchestra misty-eyed. Music is so powerful and harnessing that for good, it’s a joy to be able to do that.”
The Southern Oregon Repertory Singers present their holiday program A Ceremony of Carols three times: On Friday, December 19 at 7:30 p.m. at downtown Medford’s historic Holly Theatre. Tickets for that show are available exclusively through the Holly’s website. Then on Saturday and Sunday, December 20 and 21 at 2:00 p.m. at SOU’s Music Recital Hall. Tickets for those shows are available through their website.
Original article: https://kobi5.com/features/sunrise/so-repertory-singers-bring-a-ceremony-of-carols-to-medford-and-ashland-289146/