By Amy Modesti
The celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ was in full swing inside the Petersburgh Baptist Church on Sunday evening. Presented by the Petersburgh Baptist Church choir, the entertaining, festive two-day concert contained over nineteen songs and instrumentals that put the audience in both the holiday and religious spirit, just in time for Christmas.
A young female pianist opened the cantata with her own solo performance. Following suit was the duo violin performance by Linda Morrison and Martha VonSchilgen, with their own rendition of the popular tune, “Carol of the Bells.” Director and pianist, Karen Webster later joined Morrison and VonSchilgen (now performing on the oboe) and the percussionists to perform a joyful, up-tempo version of Joy to the World.
The Petersburgh Baptist Church choir, along with the church patrons together, sung about the birth and the importance of Christ through the songs, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” the Hallelujah Chorus, and an acapella version of “Silent Night.” The choir, featuring other additional children singers, opened the evening with their own renditions of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and “Christmastime” (with little hints of Gloria) sung by the entire choir.
For certain songs, all the performers had their own opportunities to shine on stage as they were part of either a full ensemble, performed as a family group, performed instrumentals, or were on stage separately in both a men and women’s group. Once the men had gotten off the stage after performing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” all the female singers remained on stage to sing their own rendition of “Mary’s Lament.” Until the song was over, only four remaining singers were left on stage, members of the Craib Family gathered together to perform “Not That Far from Bethlehem.”
The audience was in a fit full of laughter and chuckles once the men’s chorus arrived on stage again in their animal costumes, wearing donkey ears, sheep ears, camel hats, even angel wings to represent bird wings, to sing their animal song, “The Friendly Beasts.” For each animal that had sung their verse, the singer reenacted the sound that the animal made which gathered some laughs from the audience. Concluding “The Friendly Beasts,” Webster, assisted again by Morrison and VonSchilgen, performed an instrumental rendition of “Go Tell It on The Mountain,” before the entire choir reunited to sing the remaining songs.
The songs that best showcased the Choir’s musical ability were “The First Noel” and “Candlelight Christmas Canon.” The vocal harmonies between the men and the women were beautifully done, as the singers used the high and low range in their vocals to bounce back and forth in each verse in in these two songs. The full beauty of the performance brought tears to one’s eyes.
This year’s Christmas Cantata, performed by the Petersburgh Baptist Church, was both beautiful and entertaining. Once again, it brought people together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and the love that he was able to bring to his believers within their hearts all year round, especially during Christmas, a holiday celebrating love and giving back to those that matter the most in our lives.