What's happening this week, Part 2
And let's not forget the two main holiday choral events of the year...
Get ready for the sing-along Handel’s Messiah in Sebastopol
Conductor John Maas returns for his 31st year with his open singalong of Handel’s “Messiah.”
Practice sessions: TODAY, Monday, Dec. 1, and Monday, Dec. 8, 7:50 pm to 8:30 pm, in the Little Red Hen dining room at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 282 South High St., Sebastopol. Enter from the patio on the north side of the building (the side closest to Bodega Avenue). You don’t have to come to the practice sessions to participate in the public performance. They’re optional.
Public performance: Saturday, Dec. 13, 1 pm, at the United Methodist Church, 500 North Main St., at High School Road, opposite Safeway. Sheet music provided. This choral event will be accompanied by a string quartet with Rob Powell, Margaret Thornton, Ellen Watson, and Tom Fatttaruso, and Todd Higgins on trumpet. Vocal leaders are Melina Moreaux, soprano; Sadie Sonntag, alto; Greg Hoff, tenor; and Benjamin Mertz, bass. $10-$20 donation at the door.
Occidental Community Choir Concerts: Light in the Darkness
This December marks the 47th year of the Occidental Community Choir. Every spring and winter season, this local treasure performs an eclectic mix of locally composed music, classical and contemporary choral pieces, poetry, and spoken word. Members live in Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, Graton, Forestville…not just Occidental.
They are performing their winter concert, Light in the Darkness, this week and next week at the following locations:
IN OCCIDENTAL: Friday, Dec. 5, 7 pm, Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3 pm, and Sunday, Dec. 7 at 3 pm at Occidental Center for the Arts, 3850 Doris Murphy Ct, Occidental
IN TOMALES: Friday, Dec. 12, 7 pm, The Tomales Town Hall, 27150 Main St, Tomales.
IN SANTA ROSA: Saturday, Dec. 13, 7 pm, and Sunday, Dec. 14, 3 pm at The Glaser Center, 547 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa.