The spirit of Christmas in song
Fort Smith Community Choir a seasonal tradition
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 9, 2013
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Fort Smith takes celebrating Christmas seriously. One of its most beloved traditions is the Fort Smith Community Choir, which performs twice each Yuletide season at St. Joseph Cathedral.
Karen Zaidan, the director/conductor of the choir and a solo performer, said people count on the choir's concerts for live music at Christmas.
"I think it's just a sense of community and being able to share in the spirit of Christmas together," she said. "There are some really special moments in the concert which I think people look forward to every year. We usually dim the lights and pass out candles, and I'll sing Silent Night. It's really touching, and as a conductor I'm moved almost to tears pretty much every time."
One other special thing about the concert is that, along with hymns, there is some contemporary Christmas music and carols so the audience can sing along.
This is the fifth year that Zaidan has been the director/conductor, and she has sang in the choir almost every Christmas since arriving in Fort Smith nine years ago.
The choir starts organizing and rehearsing in October and for the past several years, it has also performed at Remembrance Day ceremonies.
The choir has its origins in the mid-1980s and Juneva Green has been involved with right from the very beginning.
"There was just one year where I had to sit in the audience because I had a really bad sore throat. But otherwise I've been there," she said.
Green keeps going back to the choir year after year because she loves to sing.
"I look forward to it every year," she said.
Plus, many other people in Fort Smith look forward to the choir's annual performances, she noted. "I've heard people say for them it's the beginning of the Christmas season once they've gone to the choir concert."
Green recalled that the choir was started for an Easter concert in its first year, but then switched to performing at Christmas.
Several years ago, the choir did Christmas and Easter concerts, but that proved to be too big of a commitment for most members.
This is the second year in the choir for Rev. David Lehmann of St. John's Anglican Church, who returned to his hometown of Fort Smith last year.
"It's my second year and only my second year ever in a choir," he said. "It's a new experience for me."
Lehmann said being a member of the choir is both challenging and enjoyable.
"It's really quite delightful. I'm very sad when it ends in December because I would love it to carry on the rest of the year," he said.
The choir has a cross-section of the community and singers with various levels of training and previous experience. They range in age from about 10 to 70.
Zaidan said the choir typically has about 24 members each year, but has ranged from a high of about 40 to a low of about 18.
"It's definitely female predominant," she said, although she added there have been an increasing number of male voices over the years and this year there are eight.
There are no auditions for the choir.
"Nobody is turned away," Zaidan said. "If you want to sing, come out and try it. All are welcome."
This year, there are a wide variety of volunteer singers, including stay-at-home moms, teachers and information technology professionals.
Zaidan said once they join the choir, the singers discover it's an enjoyable experience and they're not going to be singled out for solos, unless they want that opportunity.
"They realize that it's just fun and they just keep coming back," she said.
The choir will be performing at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Cathedral on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. and on Dec. 15 at 3 p.m. It will be joined by the choir from Joseph Burr Tyrrell School for the afternoon performance.
The concerts are free, but with an optional donation.
