Holy Trinity Episcopal Church – 7:30 PM
Paul Kirkpatrick, Cello
This concert will be preceded in the afternoon with a “community wellness fair” at Holy Trinity with wellness organizations and cancer support organizations offering information, a blood drive, and other events. Whitacre composed The Sacred Veil with his friend and frequent collaborator Charles Anthony Silvestri, who wrote the lyrics, which revolve around the death from cancer of his late wife, Julia Lawrence Silvestri. The Sacred Veil is an intensely personal, deeply moving work of art. The lyrics focus on the private story of Julia’s passing, told from the perspective of her husband, Charles. A simple concept intellectually, but packed with mystery and complexity as a lived experience.
Berean Baptist Church – 7:30 PM
517 Glensford Dr, Fayetteville, NC 28314
With the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra
Kick off your holiday season with this annual Fayetteville tradition attracting hundreds! This “Gift to the Community” is a partnership with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. Join our celebrated organizations with guest soloists Caroline Vaughn (Soprano), Brenda Vandervort-Miller (Mezzo), Melvin Ezzell (Tenor). and Ramelle Brooks (Bass). Typically, we invite anyone who has sung this piece to join us from the audience or attend rehearsals and stand with the choir! The performance is typically known as the “Christmas portion” of the work, ending with the famous “Hallelujah Chorus!”
Jack Britt High School – 7:30 PM
7403 Rockfish Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28306
Featuring the Jack Britt High School Chorus
Ask any choir member why they sing with us and two answers always emerge: the love for singing with others and to sing glorious harmonies. We call it “ear candy!” The choir was surveyed as to their favorite choral octavos, and the selections we chose are those that rose to the top of our collective list! Please sit back and relax with the kind of favorite candy “we” prefer to snack upon!
Haymount United Methodist Church New Life Center – 7:30 PM
1700 Fort Bragg Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28303
The classical-based Mass joins together with the down-home sparkle of bluegrass to create a work that is unique in scope, and a beautiful union of seemingly disparate musical traditions. We hope that listeners coming from one tradition–classical or bluegrass–and perhaps dubious about the other, might discover something new and wonderful in the combination! We will also feature other choral works representing folk music from our American roots.
“Voices of a Community”
They come from all walks of life, and all with a love of song. “No more than one-fourth of the members are professional musicians,” Alan Porter once said of the chorus he founded in 1992, after the bicentennial of 17th century classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s death. “I put together a choir that consisted of my college choral group plus a large number of townspeople. We did the Mozart Requiem. When it was over, the singers didn’t want to break up. They said, ‘Why can’t we keep it going?’” Today, after a quarter of a century, the voices of the Cumberland Oratorio Singers, under the direction of Dr. Michael Martin, continue to perform from Huff Concert Hall at Methodist University to Seabrook Auditorium at Fayetteville State University, and continue to work with music partners to include the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. “It has been an honor to serve and represent our great community through our gifts of music and friendship,” Martin said. “Conducting this organization has been a highlight of my conducting career.” Enshrined as the 28th inductee by the Community Concerts Board of Directors at The Crown Theatre. March 18, 2017
MARY POTTER, Alto
Mary is the only member of Cumberland Choral Arts who performed Mozart’s Requiem in 1991 with Alan Porter’s group that became the Cumberland Oratorio Singers and later Cumberland Choral Arts, and she has been singing with the group for all 30 years! Of the many pieces the group has performed, Mary said the Holocaust Cantata was her favorite.
Mary is a retired teacher who continues to sub at several different schools. She is a member of the St. Patrick Catholic Church Choir and was a member of the Cantate Chamber Choir, directed by Stephan Barnicle.
Always staying busy, Mary enjoys yoga, water aerobics, bike riding, and horseback riding. She loves to travel, do puzzles, and listen to music of all types. But Mary’s very favorite thing to do is play with her grandchildren!
Mary has served in leadership positions on the COS/CCA Board of Directors for eight years, with two of those as President. Thank you, Mary, for your singing voice and your dedication to COS/CCA for these 30 years!
Cumberland Choral Arts (CCA), founded in 1991 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, as the Cumberland Oratorio Singers, is a mixed-voice community choir committed to bringing the finest choral music to the Fayetteville and greater Sandhills area and has performed many of the great classical works, as well as favorites from stage and screen, jazz, and opera. Our passion to bring world-class choral music to the community was rewarded in 2017 when we were inducted into the Fayetteville Music Hall of Fame along with our founder, Mr. Alan Porter.
The Cross Creek Chorale (CCC), a smaller select-voice ensemble, expands the repertoire of the group for concerts and community appearances. The addition of the Campbellton Youth Chorus (CYC), comprised of 4th – 8th grade students from throughout Cumberland County, provides opportunities for tomorrow’s singers to experience and perform world-class choral music.
Inspired by the joy of singing and hearing choral music, Cumberland Choral Arts strives to be a premiere symphonic chorus through the outstanding performance of choral masterworks. With a commitment to excellence and education for 30 years, we work collaboratively with all singers to foster a vibrant, diverse, and interactive choral community, educate our singers and audiences, and extend our reach to the youth of Cumberland County and the Sandhills region.
