For “Dancing Day: A Cycle of Traditional Christmas Carols,” Joy Lingerfelt and her choir were desperately seeking a harpist.
So the NorthWest Women’s Chorale searched; Lingerfelt called more than a dozen around Western Washington, to no avail.
One of her top choices would have been John Manno, formerly the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra’s harpist and a well-known performer around town.
But Manno had moved to Ashland, Wis., earlier this year.
Holding out hope, Lingerfelt sent Manno an email. The chorale could put together some money to fly him back, so would he?
Yes and no: Manno would love to play “Dancing Day.” But he doesn’t fly.
Sequim, Port Angeles
So the harpist is taking the train — a three-day trek — to be here for final rehearsals and then two NorthWest Women’s Chorale holiday concerts: Sunday afternoon in Sequim and Monday evening in Port Angeles.
“Dancing Day,” written by the British composer John Rutter, tells the Christmas story in music.
It’s a series of songs with an instrumental opening, and “the first movement, harp alone, is worth the price of admission,” said Lingerfelt.
The Women’s Chorale won’t stop at “Dancing Day,” though.
Sunday’s and Monday’s concerts also will travel to “The Snow” by Edward and Caroline Elgar, and to “Cradle Hymn” by Norwegian composer Kim Andre Arnesen.
This lullaby set to words “will make Christmas for you,” said Lucy Nordwell, a singer in the chorale since its 2007 inception.
To add Hanukkah spirit, the women will sing “S’Vivon,” a Jewish folk song, and “Al Shlosha D’Varim,” a piece dedicated to the memory of Patricia Anne “Patti” Dunlap.
A founding member of the NorthWest Women’s Chorale, Dunlap died in October at age 72.
The translated text of the song, Lingerfelt noted, means: “The world is sustained by three things: by truth, by justice and by peace.”
“We are reaching out to a little opera and to some Renaissance music,” she added: Purcell’s “Sound the Trumpet” and Jacob Handl’s “O Magnum Mysterium.”
Accompanying musicians at these concerts include violinists Olivia Bailey and Port Angeles High School senior Leah Marsh, as well as the chorale’s collaborative pianist, Kristin Quigley Brye.
Audience to sing
Both performances will have time for audience members to join in singing “What Child is This?” and other carols.
In the weeks leading to the concerts, the singers may wonder if they’re going to pull it all together, Nordwell said.
But “joy pulls out the excellence from you,” she said of the director.
“We are so lucky,” Nordwell added, to have Manno, Bailey, Marsh and Brye.
“We are so grateful and very excited.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
