The Community Chorus of Port Townsend and East Jefferson County will present a twist on its holiday fare this weekend, offering a somewhat traditional mass in a not-so-traditional setting.
Singers bring a touch of bluegrass to the stage when they sing “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass,” along with many songs of the season.
Performances are 7 p.m. Friday at First Presbyterian Church, 1111 Franklin St., Port Townsend, and 7 p.m. Sunday at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 45 Redeemer Way, Chimacum.
Concert tickets are $15 and are available at brownpapertickets.com, Crossroads Music in Port Townsend or at the door.
Homemade cookies in hand-decorated boxes will be sold at both concerts for $15 per box.
Jonathan Stafford and Sarah Moran share the podium for the holiday concerts.
In “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass,” composer Carol Barnett and librettist Marisha Chamberlain have combined the bluegrass style with a reinvented setting of the Catholic Latin mass.
Moran explained that the composer orchestrated the piece for a traditional five-piece bluegrass band. It calls on instrumentalists to perform as if they were classical musicians, reading from a score and following a conductor.
“This is something out of the comfort zone for many bluegrass musicians who traditionally play by ear and incorporate a great deal of improvisation,” she continued.
Taking on the challenge and joining the singers in concert are Marina Rosenquist on violin and Fayla Schwartz on mandolin, as well as Liz Hopkins, the chorus’s brand-new piano accompanist.
A full range of seasonal music is also part of the chorus program.
Stafford selected several time-honored personal favorites, and choir members added some song suggestions, introducing him to some new compositions to complete the wintry repertoire. One of Stafford’s favorite American contemporary composers is Shawn Kirchner, whose “Brightest and Best” is in the lineup. It again utilizes Rosenquist on violin.
Another number Stafford is pleased to include in the program is a portion of Daniel Pinkham’s “Christmas Cantata.”
For general concert information, call 360-385-1402.
