Songs for the Season aims to get audiences into the holiday spirit

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The Timmins Concert Singers give away seasonal music at Songs for the Season, their annual Christmas concert.

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The event takes place this Friday, November 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Church of the Sacred Heart.

“The sole purpose of this concert is to get our audience members into the spirit of the season just before it all gets hectic and rushed,” Lauri-Ann Loreto Neal, the band’s music director, told the Daily Press.

The singers have been preparing their eclectic program since September. It includes traditional and modern songs, sung in English, French, Latin and some Swahili, Neal said.

“Many of the traditional Christmas carols that will be performed are arranged in unexpected and interesting ways. The more modern pieces include songs written or performed by Nick Jonas, Gordon Lightfoot, Melissa Manchester and the Indigo Girls.

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When researching the program, Neal spent a lot of time listening to different choirs performing new and traditional arrangements. She chose a balance between “very difficult pieces that will take hard work and frustration before you reach performance quality and less difficult pieces that contain beautiful and moving harmonies,” she said.

The Timmins Concert Singers were formed in 1978 under the direction of Rosanne Simunovic as the Timmins Youth Singers. As the members of the choir grew, a name change to the Timmins Concert Singers was in order. Neal took over when Simunovic retired in 2002.

Their composition varies from year to year. They welcome anyone who likes to sing, read music or learn by ear, or who just wants to try something new. Singers as young as high school age are welcome, and there is no upper age limit.

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The Timmins Concert Singers have been doing Christmas concerts since the very beginning.

“Choir singing in particular is such a beautiful thing,” Neal said. As we rehearsed on Sunday, I couldn’t help but think it’s a gift to be able to create such beautiful sound with such rich harmonies and evoke incredible emotion with our own voices, not with the using strings or valves – which also requires a lot of talent – but with our own voices. It’s something special to be part of it. »

Neal admires the commitment, dedication and teamwork of his choir members.

“It’s a wonderful group of people who love to sing and make rehearsals something that lifts my spirits after a long day at work,” said Neal, vice-principal at O’Gorman Daytime High School.

Tickets to the songs of the season are $25 each and are available at Alfie’s cigar shop and from members of the choir.

Sacred Heart Church is located at 296 Cedar Street S.

Anyone interested in the Timmins Concert Singers can join their Facebook page – Timmins Concert Singers Public – where they will find regular updates, links to past concerts, information on how to join and rehearsal times.