The Mountaineer

December 7, 2024

The Haywood Choral Society will perform a free holiday concert, “Warmth and Wonder”, at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville.

The concert repertoire features exquisite music of both sacred and secular genres to playful and familiar tunes. Notable composers of the concert music range from Mendelssohn to Whitacre, Poulenc, and Forrest.

There are seasonal favorites such as John Rutter’s Candlelight Carol and Rachmaninoff’s Bogoroditse Devo and newer music such as Sarah Quartel’s Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind and Ola Gjeilo’s Tundra. To round out the concert list, there may be some selections with a whimsical flare to brighten your holiday spirits.

The Haywood Choral Society of 70 choir members is under the direction of Don Kirkindoll, who is also the director of music and worship arts for FUMC. Pianist Renee Allsbrook is the music director of Providence Church in Waynesville and is a musical composer/arranger with several published works.

Haywood Choral Society, formerly known as the Haywood Community Chorus, was established in 1997 as a means for community members to share their interests in performing a variety of challenging choral repertoire. Throughout the years, the chorus/ choral society has offered singers, musicians and audience members the opportunity to appreciate great classical works of past and present-day composers, as well as spiritual, folk, gospel, and contemporary music.

The chorus is sponsored in part by The Junaluskans, the Haywood Arts Council, the Haywood Choral Society Angels and a Grassroots Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

The church is located at 566 S. Haywood St., Waynesville. There is no admission charge, however, there will be an offering collected from those willing to contribute toward the future endeavors of the choral society. For more information visit haywoodchoralsociety.org.