Last evening the Granville High School Chamber Singers visited Kendal to deliver a smooth and delightful performance of seasonal tunes. The residents turned out in large numbers, and the Amelia Room, decked out in seasonal colors and markers, provided an appropriate setting. Before the program began the ensemble's talented director, Kristen Snyder, explained that in recent days they had been making the pre-Christmas rounds of performance venues. Happily, we were on their schedule and in fact became the appreciative beneficiaries of their final concert before the high school and the Chamber Singers began their Christmas breaks.
The singing was marked throughout by close harmonies and precision of elocution. From the opening number – "Go Tell it on the Mountain" – to the rousing, concluding performance of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (including vocal romps on the words "figgy pudding"), the Chamber Singers proved themselves a skilled and well-trained ensemble. Along the choral way, Santa Claus came to town, chestnuts roasted on some fires, jingle bells rocked, and silver bells enchanted. An unexpected encore brought attention to a smaller ensemble, the Blue Notes, who sang a dazzling arrangement of "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies," featuring the difficulties of chromatic passages and tight harmonies.
The residents loved the show. And once again we were all made to realize how fortunate we were to have so many exciting performance organizations in our vicinity. The holiday season is well and truly under way a Kendal.
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