Capital Region Performance Gallery

by Dick Frantzreb

This was the 23rd annual offering of the Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra’s traditional “Wells Fargo Home for the Holidays.” In recent years, it has been held in Memorial Auditorium, but with the renovations being carried out at that venue, both of this year’s concerts were held in the Sacramento Community Center Theater (for the first time since 2001).

The theater was decorated for the occasion: 2 lit reindeer on either side of the stage, strings of lights and red bows on the railings surrounding the choral risers, a wooden “throne” at stage right, a fabric covered puppet theater at stage left — and Santa hats at strategic spots: atop the chime rack, on the bass violins, on the wooden “throne” — and eventually on the head of organist Ryan Enright.

The evening began with a welcome by SCSO Board President James McCormick. He said he would start with “two very important words — Merry Christmas.” He went on to note that 50 University of California medical students were in attendance as guests, and he spoke of SCSO’s relationship with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He thanked the major sponsors of the concert — the local unit of Wells Fargo Bank and Kitchen Mart — as well as other donors. Then he announced upcoming concerts and the SCSO’s forthcoming European tour. He made a special request for donations to help with an unusual shortfall in funding that the SCSO is experiencing.

With preliminaries attended to, McCormick introduced the concertmaster, Cindy Lee, who led a brief tuning, after which director Donald Kendrick, entered to the warm, welcoming applause of the audience. The members of the Sacramento Choral Society had quietly taken positions surrounding the audience, and as the theater darkened, each one turned on their green light stick.

(Click here to open the program in a new window. Note that it has composer names, most of whom are omitted from what follows. It also has full rosters of singers and instrumentalists, as well as lyrics for each composition.)

The first music was from the Sacramento Children’s Chorus who delivered Kendrick’s own setting of “Hodie Christus Natus Est.” They sang a cappella and out of sight — presumably from the theater’s second balcony. It was a solid performance from the young choristers that left us expecting more good singing from them.

Next Kendrick led the SCSO chorus in “Personent Hodie” from their positions around the audience. Latin notwithstanding, these two pieces gave a joyful start to this concert. In the dark of the theater, only a few Latin scholars might have noticed it, but the first line of the adult singers’ song — following the children — translated as “Let youthful voices resound today.” And for their part, the adults did well. It’s difficult to coordinate multi-part harmony when chorus members are separated from each other and from their director by distances like those between the extreme aisles of the Community Center Theater.  But sitting in the absolute center of the theater, I heard perfectly unified harmony.

Now it was time for 130 adult singers and nearly 40 young singers to make their way to the risers on the theater’s stage. Covering their movement was the wonderful “Christmas Overture” by Nigel Hess. It was alternately stirring, joyful, exuberant and reverent — in a diverse medley of familiar Christmas tunes, each set with different combinations of instruments. For their inspired work, the orchestra got a special bow, as Kendrick shook hands with the concertmaster and the audience registered approval in extended applause. I should point out that the 52-member orchestra assembled for these two concerts on this day was dramatic evidence of SCSO’s commitment to support professional musicians in Sacramento.

As the applause faded, Donald Kendrick turned to welcome the audience to this traditional holiday celebration, as he has done for over 2 decades. He previewed the music to come, noting the composers, and shared his enthusiasm for the guest performers, especially soprano Susannah Biller.

The music resumed with the Austrian carol, “Still, Still, Still.” It began with a beautiful first statement by the men of the chorus and proceeded to many recurrences of the familiar theme that were nonetheless full of musical surprises. This well-composed, well-sung music was simply spirit soothing.

Now it was the turn of the Sacramento Children’s Chorus (SCC). The whole SCC organization was not represented tonight — just the two older choirs, Crescendo and Dolce. There are boys (a few) in SCC, even in the older choirs, but none of them participated in this concert, so we got only treble harmonies from these fine young singers as they performed, “Ring Out Bells, Ring!” which had a pleasant folk sound that somehow made one want to dance.

At this point in the program, Susannah Biller entered the stage in a long red velvet red dress and took a seat in the stately wooden chair prepared for her at stage right. With musical support from the orchestra, she read the Brothers Grimm story of “The Elves and The Shoemaker,” which was performed by the Christopher Cook Puppets. Biller’s clear, expressive reading was accompanied by the antics of the puppets in a skit clever enough to elicit chuckles from those around me. There were also brief appearances by two masked actors who carried the story along with mime. This joyful, humorous interlude was enhanced with a couple of orchestral pieces, the “Sussex Carol” and “Deck the Hall,” which complemented the expressive reading and humorous puppetry.

John Rutter’s “Angel Carol” was next, and what struck me about it, besides the lovely melodies, was the artistic interplay between the men’s and women’s voices. This was followed by the children singing “Somewhere in My Memory” from the Home Alone movies. As I listened, I was surprised how clearly, despite the orchestration and my distance from them, I was able to make out the words of the song. Then it struck me what a thrill it must be for these young people to perform with such a big, professional orchestra. At least I hope it was a thrill. It’s a privilege — no doubt well earned — and an opportunity that comes to very few.

The big number before intermission was a combined setting of “I Wonder as I Wander” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” Soprano Biller returned to the stage to lend her elegant appearance and demeanor to this music. She was the focus of the first of these two songs, and her cultured voice soared in moments of great drama, though what especially impressed me was the effortless purity of so much of the singing in her high register. The “Go Tell It on the Mountain” part of this two-part piece came as a delightful surprise as the style changed from lyrical to giving the feeling of an Appalachian hoedown. This sophisticated piece called on the versatility of soloist, choruses, and orchestra, and it built the spirits of those around me to such a degree that they responded with cheers of approval at its conclusion.

A few of the 160 singers	Donald Kendrick directing the singalong	Santa hats were everywhere

After the intermission, conductor Kendrick returned to the stage with Susanna Biller on his arm, escorting her to her chair of honor. He was also sporting a Santa hat, a hint of fun to come. First, though, he had a few words about SCSO’s support of the work of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and he spoke about two of their clients, Riley, a 13-year-old girl who has survived a struggle with cancer and Miles, a 9-year-old blind boy, similarly cancer-free. Both kids had wished to sing with a professional chorus and orchestra, and they presently entered and took positions on the stage near the SCC singers.

Then it was time for the traditional audience singalong. Six carols were incorporated into “Sing We Now of Christmas” by Randol Alan Bass. With all of us standing at Kendrick’s request, he led the orchestra in a brief introduction to each carol, then turned to lead our singing. With the house lights up and the words in our programs, I’d say there were very few of us who passed on the opportunity to participate in this joyful activity.

At this point, Susannah Biller became the focus of the program once again with “O Holy Night,” and she was accompanied by a 4-part choral part that nicely complemented her performance. Her brilliant high note notwithstanding, I was most impressed with the restraint in her singing, which to me expressed reverence for the subject of the music, and which she presented from memory. That said, this carol, more than any other this evening, was chill-inducing.

Susannah Biller performing "O Holy Night"	Make-A-Wish Kids and Susannah Biller joining in "Silent Night"

After the children’s chorus performed “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” in a traditional, gentle arrangement that included some brilliant orchestration, we were treated to an unfamiliar song by the adult chorus, “See Amid the Winter’s Snow.” To me, this arrangement was simply exquisite. As I felt myself being moved by the music, I longed to know the words, but the acoustics of the Community Center Theater didn’t allow it, and I wished that somehow someone might have given a grant that would have allowed them to be projected as supertitles — as I’ve seen for some SCSO concerts at this venue. All the while, the chorus performed like a finely tuned instrument — responsive, accurate, expressive.

“’Twas the Night Before Christmas” brought another opportunity for the orchestra to demonstrate its excellence. While Susannah Biller read this famous poem (of which the actual title is “A Visit from St. Nicholas”), the orchestra played a now-classic accompaniment, again by Randol Alan Bass, which was introduced in 1988. What made this piece especially memorable were the many wonderful moments from individual players and sections, including humorous effects and instrumental sounds that illustrated the story.

The “Wexford Carol” is more popular in England than here, but after the lyrical introduction to this piece, I found myself being drawn in, and I don’t recall ever appreciating this piece as much as I did in this performance and in this arrangement.

“Away in a Manger” was a bit of a surprise for all of us in the audience, because although the words were familiar, the tune was not. Performed from memory by all the singers, it included a solo from Susannah Biller, a lovely flute part, a verse by the SCC, and an a cappella section by the SCSO that had an indescribably delicate beauty.

The orchestra excelled again in “The Other Night,” especially at the beginning, until Biller and the chorus captured the listener’s attention in what seemed to me to be an especially introspective composition. It was one of several tonight that was inspiring and uplifting whether or not you could make out the lyrics. Unfamiliar as it was to me and, I presume, to others, I was left feeling that it should be performed much more often.

At this point in the concert, the Make-A-Wish kids returned to the stage and took up positions next to Biller. She began singing “Silent Night” with no accompaniment but that of chimes, to be soon joined by a single viola. The full orchestra picked up the second verse as it was sung by the SCC (and the Make-A-Wish kids). Then, for the third verse there was a bigger orchestration — still maintaining the gentle character of the piece — with both choruses singing.  As the music concluded, there were cheers among the audience's applause.

When that applause subsided, Donald Kendrick spoke to us once more. He talked about the SCSO’s upcoming tour and expressed thanks for donations, both past and forthcoming. Then he got philosophical. Thinking about SCSO’s history, he observed that “Great things happen when people work together for the common good.” Then he added: “Do good in the world.  Seek peace.  Make your parents proud of you — they’re still watching you.” Say what you will, this was a moving benediction to me.

Closing the evening out, Susannah Biller started singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” and she was soon joined by the everyone else on stage — except the orchestra, of course. They provided an accompaniment that I first described as “rollicking” in my notes, and it soon became “grand.” Then there were bows all around, and a bow by SCC Artistic Director Alex Grambow who entered to join Kendrick downstage. Then there were more cheers and a curtain call, and before the applause ended, everyone in the theater was on their feet in appreciation of this latest offering of a Sacramento Christmastime tradition.

Alex Grambow joins Biller and Kendrick	Donald Kendrick's parting words

Christmas and the holiday season in general are indeed all about traditions — traditions that give continuity and even meaning to the flow of our lives. This concert was a personal tradition for many in the audience, an important part of their Christmas celebration:  a life-enriching, even life-affirming experience. And along that line, you might think of “Wells Fargo Home for the Holidays” as a gift to the Sacramento community, a gift to ensure the continuity of the tradition held dear by so many. And it’s a gift from the singers, the players, the director, the sponsors, the donors, the staff, and the SCSO administration and board — a gift appreciated by so many in this season of giving.