PORT ANGELES — You can be dog tired at the end of the day. You may not feel like working, practicing and learning a piece of music.
Then it happens. The music washes over you, lifts you like surf.
“Blending our voices, hearing the other parts,” says Emil Moilanen, “we come away feeling energized,” and by the end of the evening, “it’s ‘do we have to go already?’”
That’s his experience on many Thursday nights as he rehearses with the Peninsula Men’s Gospel Singers, the choir he’s belonged to for nearly eight years. Moilanen, a bass, will step up with the group twice this weekend for Christmas concerts: at the First Presbyterian Church on Saturday afternoon and at the Port Angeles Senior & Community Center on Sunday. Admission, as usual, is free while donations are welcome.
Dan Cobb, another longtime member, gives a succinct summary on why, with just a few days left before Christmas, one should consider attending either of the performances.
“This will be a festive time of beautiful music, a moment of cheer and peace,” he said, “in a season that can be stressful.”
The program is a diverse one, with Cobb offering a solo in “O Holy Night,” the choir’s renditions of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Mary Did You Know,” “The First Noel,” “Gesu Bambino” and “Sing We Now of Christmas.”
“Christmas Angels,” a medley of “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is on the agenda, as is Michael McBride’s trombone solo of “The Birthday of a King” and choir director Michael Rivers’ arrangement of “Away in a Manger.”
Penny Hall, the Peninsula Men’s Gospel Singers’ pianist, will play a solo of “Masters in the Hall,” and guest vocalist Sarah Almond will be featured in “Silent Night” and “Hey Shepherd, Shepherd.”
Rivers and the ensemble will, as always, invite the audience to join in on one or two songs — something that is “almost magical,” to baritone Mike Perry’s mind.
“When people come in, sometimes they don’t know what to expect. They come in from the busy outside world, and you can see it on their faces: They’re touched by the music.
“At end of the concert, . . . we move into a sing-along, and everyone just joins in and becomes part of celebration. You can see that transformation take place.
“Even the way we sing the music changes . . . because of the mood in the room. That’s part of the joy of singing, that connection Michael [Rivers] makes between the singers and the audience.”
“Give us a try,” is second tenor Gordon Shipps’ invitation to those who have never been to a gospel concert.
“I’ve found that many, many new people are saying, ‘We had no idea what you guys sounded like . . . we thought it would just be another everyday singing of church music.’
“I’m not against church music,” Shipps added. “I grew up in the church.
“But we have a different sound. We come from all different backgrounds.
“We are a group of men who represent seven or eight different churches and five or six different denominations. The commonality we share is that we love the Lord and we want to sing his praises.
“People want people to get together,” said Shipps, “and stop being divided by churches.”
Music has a way of uniting us, added Moilanen. There are times, when everything is flowing, when he feels completely in tune with his fellow singers. “It’s a glorious feeling, like the music is happening to you. And you think wow, this is so cool.”
