BROKEN BOW—The annual Broken Bow Christmas Cantata is right around the corner and the Ministerial Association Community Choir is looking for more people to ‘sweetly sing o’er the plains’ this holiday season.
Two performances will be held in early December with the first at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Saturday, December 7 at 7 p.m. and a second performance at the First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, December 8 at 2:30 p.m. Lance Bristol and Bill Reichert invite the public to sing in the cantata and told KCNI/KBBN they are especially looking for more male voices this year.
“We need a few more men to come out and sing. We have a good group of women, we could always use more women singers, that’s not a problem, but we most definitely could use more men singers to balance things out with the cantata,” Bristol said.
The next rehearsal is on Wednesday, October 23 at 7:45 p.m.
This year’s cantata is “Love Made Away: The Journey of Christmas” by Mary McDonald and Jay Rouse with accompanists Angie Ripp and Jan Dobesh and Morgan Harms serving as assistant director.
Bristol and Reichert said rehearsals are fun and enjoyable with singers divided into sections as they learn their parts. Participants are not required to sing alone or audition, and singers from high school age and up, within or outside of Broken Bow are all encouraged to take part.
“It’s a multigenerational choir. The time is good because everyone comes because they love to sing and the music is conducive to loving to sing. It makes for a good experience,” Bristol said.
Bill Reichert hopes high school students join too as he feels the rehearsals and cantata serve as a way to celebrate the joy of music throughout a person’s whole life.
“I think it’s a good experience for them and I truly think they enjoy it or they wouldn’t come back each year. So I really like that aspect of it that it’s really a great community effort,” Reichert said.
The former Broken Bow educators said everyone should give it a try, they won’t regret it.
Practices are on Wednesday nights from 7:45 to 9 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church (925 N H St, Broken Bow, NE 68822) and the Christmas Cantata performances will be on Saturday, December 7 at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and Sunday, December 8 at 2:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church.
Call Bill at 308-870-2227 or Lance at 308-935-1432 to learn more.
