LACC returns for second Christmas concert in December

The Lower Alabama Community Choir welcomes the community for a free Christmas concert at the LBW Martha and Solon Dixon Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m.

Now in its second year and funded by the Lower Alabama Arts Coalition, the concert will be the group’s first of the season. John McAnulty, who has sung with the group since its beginning, serves on the marketing committee.

“Our Christmas concert this year will be similar to last year’s. We have a great repertoire coming up and will be singing everything from ‘Mary Had a Baby’ to a secular song called ‘Fruitcake,’ which is quite interesting. It will be a great concert with about 35 people in the chorus and choir,” McAnulty said.

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Rector Eric Mancil will return as the director of the choir.

“We have a little more experience behind us, which I hope will come through in our performance. We have some beautiful music planned. The first half will be more traditional with titles like ‘What Child Is This?’ and ‘Let There Be Peace on Earth.’ The second half will be more fun and upbeat with titles like ‘We Need a Little Christmas’ from the Broadway musical ‘Mame’ and a lovely arrangement of the classic song ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,’ Mancil said.

This year’s theme is “Wonders of Winter: A Christmas Concert” with 12 songs on the lineup. Additional songs not listed above are “Gloria! Sing Gloria!,” “Candlelight Carol,” “The First Noel,” “Thankful,” “Squeezin’ Down the Chimney,” and “A Holiday Sing-Along.”

Like McAnulty, Mancil is also looking forward to the second year of the choir.

“We all come from different walks of life and different faith traditions. Some of us are Episcopalians, some are Methodists, some are Baptists, or maybe have no faith tradition at all. What unifies us is our love for making music together and sharing it with the community,” he said.

The choir, which is always seeking additional members, meets for rehearsals weekly on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at LBW. Flyers detailing how to sign up will be located on a merchandise table. New members may also enroll by scanning a provided QR code.

“We hope to have more activity with the concert this year and maybe some vendors outside. Flyers will be distributed to businesses, and we will also have yard signs to pique local interest. We heard feedback from the elderly who said it was difficult for them to get out at night after last year’s concert. We hope by getting word out earlier this year, we can offer rides to those unable to drive at night,” McAnulty said.

The choir moved their rehearsals to the stage of the Dixon Center this year. Due to music copyrights, the concert will not be live streamed on social media.

“We try to improve our sound and get better as a group. When you bring individuals together, sometimes it’s tough to get that compound harmonious sound. Last year, we rehearsed in a separate location and then performed on stage. The acoustics were so different that it was distracting when we went out there. We know what it will sound like and hope to make this concert bigger and better every year,” McAnulty said.

McAnulty added that the choir would perform a spring concert in May.

“With our choir, you don’t have to have any formal training or be able to read music. We have people who rehearse by simply listening to the music. One of our choir members is blind and attends rehearsals with her service dog. We have people from the age of 20 all the way to the age of 80. One of our goals for our second year is to have more exposure and bring more awareness to what we do,” he said.

For more information email rector@stmarysandalusia.org, call John McAnulty at 713-542-0065, or visit the Lower Alabama Community Choir Facebook page.