The Soo Theatre Orchestras will team up with the LSSU Choir once again to perform “A Laker Christmas” at the LSSU Fine Arts Center on December 7 at 7:00 pm. This concert is a reprise of the successful partnership featured in last year’s joint holiday concert, bringing together musicians from the Soo Theatre and the LSSU communities, in an inclusive and cooperative musical venture. See the concert poster.
Featured will be the LSSU Choir, under the direction of Professor Karen Hughes Beacom, and accompanied by Maureen Delaney-Lehman, retired LSSU faculty. Additional singers from LSSU and the community will be joining the choir for larger ensemble pieces. The choir will be performing works ranging from “Happy Holidays”, and “Throw the Yule Log on, Uncle John” to traditional classics, like “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” and “Hallelujah Chorus.”
Maureen Delaney-Lehman is also the director of the Soo Theatre Flute Choir, which will be performing “Ding Dong Merrily on High” and “Semi-Serious Variations on a Christmas Theme.” Maureen will also be featured in a vocal solo from “The Ceremony of Carols” accompanied by harp.
The Soo Theatre Combined Orchestras feature members from the STARS Youth Orchestra and the New Horizons Strings as well as community members and LSSU faculty and students. The orchestra will perform stand-alone full orchestra pieces, such as the jazzy “Bells of Christmas” and will accompany the choir on several selections.
The STARS Youth Orchestra has undergone a growth spurt this season, numbering 28 members from ages 9-22, playing violin, viola, cello, and bass. Many of the musicians of the Youth Orchestra are also standing members of the Sault Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, several of the orchestra members double on wind instruments, allowing for the performance of full orchestra works that add woodwinds, brasses, and percussion to the mix. The New Horizons Strings is a group of adult players, usually ones who have taken up their instruments later in life. Several New Horizons members have also played in Sault Symphony concerts in recent years. The STARS Youth Orchestra and New Horizons Strings are under the direction of Dottie Case, assisted by Lisa Beckman. For this concert, we will be joined by guest conductor Anne Turgeon, who will conduct two numbers while Mrs. Case moves to the clarinet section, Mrs. Beckman takes a place in the percussion section, and Ms. Hughes Beacom sits down at the harp. Mrs. Turgeon and her family have recently relocated to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where she and her husband are on the faculty of the Algoma Conservatory.
The Soo Theatre’s collaboration with Lake Superior State University allows for the showcasing of a high level of performance skills, and a holiday concert that will truly set the musical mood for the season. The group effort makes larger and more complex works a possibility, because as the old saying goes, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Please join us for this event.
Other seasonal events presented by The Soo Theatre Project include a 1:00 pm concert in the Avery Center on Dec. 12 and the Tour of Homes and Tea, on Dec. 15, both featuring the New Horizons musicians. Additionally, STP Artistic Director Karen Hughes Beacom will be a featured soloist for the Sault Symphony Orchestra’s December 14 production of Handel’s “Messiah” with the Algoma Chamber singers. Past guest artist and friend of The Soo Theatre John Arnold will be the baritone soloist in this timeless work. Lastly, a student recital of Christmas music will be held on Dec. 20, at 6 pm, at the Central United Methodist Church. Students from very young to on up to very advanced will share the fruits of their hard work with any who wish to come and enjoy the music of the Holiday Season.
For tickets to the Tour or more information, call 906 632-1930.
