The Kona Choral Society singers are going Baroque this holiday season with a pair of seasonal concerts.
The first marks their 27th annual classical concert at the Keauhou Convention Center at the Sheraton Kona Resort on Sunday.
The following week, Dec. 11, the 100-member chorus presents its free “Joy to the World” holiday sing-along at Old Airport Park. Both shows begin at 4 p.m.
Two Baroque period pieces will be presented at the Sheraton Sunday. Audience members are familiar with Handel’s “Messiah,” a perennial favorite, and won’t be disappointed as it builds to its highlight with the “Hallelujah Chorus.”
The classical concert opens with the very challenging Bach’s “Magnificat in D,” a piece of sacred music in Latin, describing the visitation of Mary in the Gospel of Luke and her praise for God. Johann Sebastian Bach was one of Handel’s contemporaries in the Baroque Period, which describes a style of European music and art from about 1600 to 1750.
“What we are aiming for is the accessibility factor, said artistic director Susan McCreary Duprey. “For everyone to enjoy the music, no matter what your background is, this music is for you, and it can touch your spirit.”
Local singers, who travel for weekly rehearsals in Kona from distances as far away as Volcano and Waimea, are finding the Bach piece particularly challenging in its complexity.
Duprey, who also travels on a weekly flight from Oahu, has given the chorus additional tools for home practice and held a vocal workshop attended by the majority of singers. With the help of the online site, Chorus Connections, and a professional singer, Matthew Curtis of Choral Tracks LLC, singers are able to download music that is broken down into vocal parts for practice at home or in the car. According to many in the chorus, this has been “a lifesaver.”
“Bach’s Magnificat in D is not an easy piece!” the director said. “To program it with a non-auditioned, all-volunteer chorus? Insane. We are not a professional chorus, but not an amateur one either. We are preparing this difficult work and we are doing so well! What an honor and pleasure it has been to prepare this piece for the community.”
Sunday concert-goers are invited to arrive early for a 3:30 p.m. pre-concert talk about Bach and his Magnificat by Dr. Daniel Mahraun, lyric baritone, choral conductor and arranger, currently directing the choir at Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in Kailua-Kona.
The selection of Bach’s Magnificat has particular meaning for Duprey, who attributes the music of Bach to helping her heal from a serious brain condition, meningoencephalitis, which almost halted her professional musical career. She credits listening to Bach’s music over and over again with helping her to regain a sense of organization in her brain over a long period of full recovery.
The “Magnificat in D” and “Messiah” will be accompanied by a 27-piece orchestra made up of local instrumentalists on strings, three trumpets, two flutes, two oboes, timpani and organ. Five professional soloists— two sopranos, one alto, one tenor and one bass — from Oahu will sing major sections of the Bach while two alto soloists enhance the Messiah.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the chorus. To hear the musical growth in KCS brings me great joy,” Duprey said.
There will be an intermission between the two sections, during which guests may purchase beverages on the lanai. A pre-concert bar will also be set up, beginning at 3 p.m.
This year’s second offering by Kona Choral Society is its fifth annual community concert at Kona’s Old Airport Beach Park pavilion. The popular event, which was expanded to two days in 2015, will be only one day this year, due to scheduling challenges at the pavilion.
Tickets for the Sunday’s concert will be available for purchase at the door, from chorus members, online at www.konachoralsociety.org, or by calling 808-334-9880. Tickets are $25 and also available at Kona Stories Bookstore &Kona Bay Books.