After 49 years the St. Peter’s Chorus is still going strong with their annual advent performance in Humboldt on Dec. 4 and St. Brieux on Dec. 2.
Lead by Maxine Moore who is an amazing vocalist in her own right and accompanied by Denise Germain on the Piano, the powerful voices flowed from one Christmas tune to the next.
The choir included 44 singers both young and older.
Moore says both concerts went very well with lots of support from the great audiences.
The choir also invited a host of instrumentalists, including Dale Avison on the clarinet, Michele Ackerman on the flute and Kevin Ackerman, as well as members of the choir who also contributed instrumentally; Dave Martinuk on violin, Susan Creurer on bells and percussion, and Joyce de Gooijer on congas.
Moore was very happy to bring this diversity to the performance, as well as different styles of music. One song was a traditional Russian church song that was performed in the original dialogue of Church Slavonic with a translation in the program.
Many of the members also sang solos as well as members of their family coming down and joining the choir as members of the children’s choir and singing solos.
Audiences were wowed by two members who are sisters and their daughters coming up for a special song together, with one woman singing with her daughter and the other playing the guitar with her daughter on the congas.
The choir’s rendition of Silent Night included children, some of which were grandchildren of members of the choir.
Having families involved in the choir is the vision Moore has had for the St. Peter’s Chorus, especially with the 50th anniversary coming up next year, to encourage music reaching across generations.
After 49 years of performances, there are still young faces in the choir that will keep the group going for another 49 years of performances.
Moore says, it comes back to the basics of loving music.
“They bring what they can to the whole performance and they sing with their hearts...it’s really just a joyful sound.”
The choir has gotten more digital as well in the last few years with practice tracks available online for the members so they can practice at home if their schedules are more hectic.
Besides practicing and performing there is also a social aspect of the chorus that keeps people coming back and spending time with fellow choir members, says Moore.
They do look out for each other, she says.
The whole choir is appreciative of the wonderful audience who joined their family for a day for wonderful music, especially the churches who welcomed them to share their space in Humboldt and St. Brieux.
