Hello, Voices of North Georgia!
I hope this email/letter finds you and your family enjoying the beautiful summer weather. Connie and I spent the first part of our trip out to Kansas City, MO (to visit our daughter, Clare, and my sister and her family), in a venture into the horse country of Lexington, Kentucky. We saw some beautiful horse farms and went to the races at Churchill Downs. We also celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary en route to Kansas City.
I hope to hear about any travels you might have made since our past season ended at our Season Kickoff Party which will be Monday evening, August 15th at the Martha Hope Cabin. The address of the cabin is 528 Prior Street. Please recruit for your community chorus over the next month and see if you can bring with you a possible new member. We are in special need of more basses.
Our 2022-2023 season will continue the week after the recruitment/reunion event on Monday evening, August 22nd in the Sonlight Choir Room at Gainesville First Baptist Church. Please arrive early to ensure that you have time to pay any dues owed, pick up your scores, find your seat, and have some time to visit with other members.
World Praise was a concert that the COVID virus made us cancel in the spring of 2019 after spending two months working on the repertoire. This concert has a multicultural theme with the chorus presenting sacred music, old and new, from many countries including Argentina, Italy, Germany and Zimbabwe, and includes the thrilling and lovely Chichester Psalms composed by Leonard Bernstein. The performances will take place on Friday evening, October 28th at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, October 30th at 2:00 p.m. in the main sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville. We will make use of the wonderful pipe organ at First Presbyterian for many of our selections.
Voices of North Georgia will present O Holy Night, our annual Christmas Concerts, on Friday and Saturday evenings, December 2nd and 3rd at 7:30 p.m. in the main sanctuary at St. Paul United Methodist Church. This year’s performances will feature a great variety of both sacred and secular favorites. A small instrumental ensemble will add to our performance of beloved songs of Christmases’ past and present.
I have scheduled with the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, for a portion of Voices of North Georgia to perform at the December 31st Candlelight Tours. A sign-up sheet will be passed around early in the season. Being part of the holiday magic at Biltmore has been great fun in the past and has included also getting together with many of the members afterwards at a local restaurant to sing in the new year.
Our rehearsals will start back up on Monday evening, January 9th as we prepare for our mid-season gala and our spring concert performances. America’s Top Ten: A Gala, will be on Saturday, March 11th beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Banquet Hall of First Baptist Church. Past galas have focused on specific musical styles or decades of popular music. This year’s gala will include choral and solo arrangements of Top Ten Hits of the last century of American music making. The chorus members and our audience have such fun at this event each year, and the audience grows each year.
This is My Country, Voices of North Georgia’s final concert of the 2022-2023 season, will feature a tribute to our country’s vibrant musical heritage. Great Americana tunes, plus patriotic favorites will fill our program and are guaranteed to get our audience on their feet at the end of each performance. These concerts will be held in the Swetenburg Fellowship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church of Gainesville on Friday evening, April 28th at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, April 30th at 2:00 p.m. We will make full use of the various multi-media resources from a recent renovation of the hall, which will add even more to the performances.
I hope as you’ve read through this letter you’ve seen that your chorus has much to look forward to throughout the season. As I mentioned earlier, please be on the lookout for any possible new members. This season would be ideal for getting someone who hasn’t been singing regularly back in the habit. Please forward contact information of any possible new additions to Mrs. Betsy Hopkins, membership chair (770-680-0993).
If you would like to go ahead and send in your registration and dues for this upcoming season, please see the attached membership form. Please remember that the completed forms need to be sent to Mrs. Marcia O’Connor, chorus treasurer. Her mailing address is included on the membership form.
I look forward to seeing you on the 15th at the Martha Hope Cabin!
Sincerely,
Bruce Nunley
Artistic Director/Conductor
Voices of North Georgia