Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Countdown is on to Christmas - ready or not!

So here we are, as I write this, just over a week away from Christmas Day, and there is still so much to do. That's the trouble with this time of year; too much to do and too little time to do it in. But we somehow manage, and after Christmas is all said and done for the year, we usually say next year we'll be better organized. But it never happens. At least we know we have a lot of company...

I was thinking of all this for a couple of reasons this week; I was out last evening on a whirlwind Christmas shopping spree, and everything is pretty much done now. An hour out of my life at targeted locations, and I had most everything done - now that is lucky, and good news! I always have to get my shopping done early, for two reasons: firstly, much of my family now lives up north in Kenora, so I have to send everything up to them, which I did earlier today. But I also can't afford, being in the retail business with my website, A Web of Fine Music, to leave things to the last minute when I am busy enough as it is filling and sending out last-minute orders for my customers. So I have never been one to be wandering the mall on December 24th, lamely looking for something - anything - that might remotely resemble a present someone I know might appreciate receiving.

So, what has all this got to do with the arts, you ask? Well, I have devoted a lot of time lately to writing in this space about the myriad of Christmas concerts and other events scheduled for December, and the fact you almost need all your spare time just to attend them all, should you wish to. By now, December 16th, you would think they would all be done, but no, not yet. We still have several concerts coming up, including A Glissandi Christmas tomorrow evening at St. Mark's Anglican Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the annual Christmas Choir Concert at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria in downtown St. Catharines, which comes up at 4 pm on Sunday afternoon.

Out of town, we have the National Ballet of Canada presenting their ever-popular Nutcracker performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts through to January 2nd, and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra has their annual Christmas Pops performances this coming Saturday afternoon and evening at Hamilton Place. I just received word yesterday the annual Festival of Carols peformances at St. John's Church in Elora, featuring The Elora Festival Singers scheduled for early next week are all sold out, so we're both out of luck on that one.

The problem has always been, of course, balancing your pleasure with what simply has to be done this month. For me, I am always so busy with my website (www.finemusic.ca), I often don't have time for many of the concerts unless I happen to be set up in the lobby, as I usually am with the Niagara Symphony and Choralis Camerata, for example. So it was I was looking at my schedule this week when the 20th annual Civic Christmas Carol Concert rolled around Tuesday at noon. Now, I have never been to this wonderful musical event before, and although I had a lot on my plate that snowy Tuesday, I decided "What the heck, everything else can wait!" as I made my way over to St. Thomas' Anglican Church for the annual event.

As always, it was a sellout, and well worth the small donation to Community Care that was requested of people attending. The choirs of Laura Secord Secondary School and Holy Cross Secondary School, along with the Chorus Niagara Children's Choir and the Civic Brass Ensemble were all in fine form, filling the church with glorious sounds of the season. It is hard not to get caught up in the spirit of the season when you hear those youthful voices ring out in song, and we, doing the best we can, joining in on occasion. The icing on the cake was the Christmas message delivered by The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the special guest for the occasion. I have had the pleasure of speaking to him before and he is the most down-to-earth, kind and gentle soul you could imagine. The fact his roots take him back many years to his radio broadcasting days, about the time I was getting into the business myself, well, he just made us all so proud in the radio business! His words, echoing those of the Queen in her 1957 Christmas Day address, still ring true for us today, and his blending of then and now was a pleaure to hear.

So, will I go for number 21 next year? You bet I will! I wish I had become part of this annual tradition, a unique one in a city our size I imagine, years ago. But better late than never, and the tradition now begins for me.

Another tradition at Christmastime for many is going to Niagara-on-the-Lake the weekend before Christmas for the annual reading of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, featuring several members of the Shaw Festival acting ensemble. This is the sort of thing you need, like Tuesday's Civic Christmas Carol Concert, to take you out of the commercialization of the season and ground you to the true meaning of Christmas. So it will be this Sunday afternoon at 3, when Peter Millard, Ijeoma Emesowum, Kelly Wong, Gabrielle Jones, Peter Krantz and Guy Bannerman will present A Christmas Carol at St. Mark's Anglican Church on Byron Street, with musical interludes presented by music director at St. Mark's Michael Tansley, along with singer Patty Jamieson. This should be a great afternoon; in fact it usually sells out, so if you have not already done so, you might want to get your tickets in advance from the Shaw Festival boxoffice at 905-468-2172. Tickets are only $ 12 for adults and $ 6 for children; a small price to pay for the magic of Christmas without sugar-coated carols piped in to the mall shops everywhere at this time of year. There, I feel better already just thinking about it!

There is much to do in Niagara to bring you back to what Christmas is all about; all you have to do is look around and marvel at the possibilities. Enjoy!

December 16th, 2010.

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