Park City Singers have entertained and enlightened the community by performing holiday and spring concerts for more than 25 years. The new season is upon the no-audition community choir, and rehearsals for the upcoming holiday shows, which are scheduled for Dec. 11 and 12, are held from 6:30-8:3 0 p.m. Tuesday evenings at the Park City Community Church, 4501 N. S.R. 224.  “We would love to welcome new singers this season,” said Director Darla Cardwell during an email interview due to her travels. “Rehearsals begin Tuesday, Sept. 8, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Park City Community Church, and registration will remain open through approximately the third rehearsal.” Joining the choir is a commitment, Cardwell said. “We have only 13 or 14 rehearsals before our concerts, but if someone feels able to commit their Tuesday evenings, we would be very happy to have them join us,” she said. For information about rehearsal times and joining the choir, visit parkcitysingers.org/join-us.html. Cardwell and The Park Record continued its email interview below. The exchange covered the choir’s history, upcoming program and its relationship with Park City Community Church. Park Record: Park City Singers is gearing up for its holiday concerts that will run Dec. 11 and 12 at Park City Community Church. What does it mean to maintain that relationship with the church? Darla Cardwell: I began working as the Director of Worship and Media Arts at Park City Community Church in January, so I’ve had the opportunity this year to experience that relationship from the inside. It has been a big learning curve for me, but it has also introduced me to another wonderful community of singers. I hope some of them might join us on Tuesday evenings while continuing to participate in the church’s Wednesday evening music program. What has struck me most is the way the church opens its doors — not only to its congregation, but to nonprofit partners and community groups. Youth theater, education workshops, music rehearsals, performances and small groups all find a home there. It is also where people gather for some of life’s biggest moments: weddings, memorial services and baptisms. It’s a welcoming and safe space for many different chapters of life. That relates directly to what I want Park City Singers to embody. Wherever someone has been with music — whether they have sung for years or are finding their way back to it — my hope is that when they walk through our doors, they feel held and find a warm place to land. As our singers build relationships within their sections and across the aisle, I want us all to lead with kindness, understanding and curiosity about the people around us. We are very grateful that Park City Community Church continues to give Park City Singers an inviting home to rehearse, perform and build those connections. P.R.: Is there a theme for this year’s performances? D.C.: I would say the overall feeling this season is a little sassy, a little celebratory and a little jazzy, with some nostalgia rolled in. I wanted something lighter this year and, stylistically, perhaps just a touch of the unexpected. P.R.: What are some of the new songs that are on the roster? D.C.: Park City Singers has been around for more than 25 years, and the group has built its music library little by little. Much of what I have to work with comes from that wonderful inventory. Some selections will be new to me as the director even if they are familiar to singers who have been involved with the group over many years. We also invested in three beautiful new pieces this season. One will be familiar to many listeners: “The Prayer,” made famous by Céline Dion and Andrea Bocelli, in a beautiful choral arrangement by Mark Hayes. We’ll be brushing up on our Italian for that one! We are also adding “The Ground” by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo. It has these lush harmonies while still falling within a level of difficulty that I believe is attainable for our group. Last year, we added Eric Whitacre’s “Glow” to our repertoire, and “The Ground” gives us another opportunity to work on that rich, contemporary choral sound using a latin text. Our third new selection is “Sweet Songs of Christmas,” written by Chris Dedrick and arranged for choir by Emily Crocker. The arrangement includes a beautiful brass element, and it also has a special connection to our group: Chris Dedrick’s daughter and recording artist, Sandra Dedrick, is a member of the Park City Singers and brought the piece to me for consideration. What an honor to be able to do it and have it in our library. P.R.: What songs are you bringing back? D.C.: We are reaching farther into the Park City Singers library and renewing pieces that have not been performed in the immediate past. That includes some really fun music, such as “Fruitcake,” “Christmas on the Beach” and “Boogie Woogie Santa,” along with a few familiar holiday favorites in arrangements our audience may not have heard before. These pieces may be familiar to longtime members of Park City Singers, but they weren’t performed during my years singing with the group and have not been presented under my direction. In that sense, they feel new to me, too. P.R.: Why did you decide to bring these back? D.C.: I know there are people who would happily hear some of our most recent music again, and I understand that! At the same time, I’m always looking at how we can stretch, learn something different and build on what we already know. We have tremendous depth in our inventory, and I want to use it rather than immediately repeating pieces the choir has just performed. These particular selections also support the lighter, more playful feeling I wanted this year. They give us opportunities for humor, personality and perhaps a little theatrical staging alongside the more traditional choral moments. Building on something that worked well last year, I also want to form several smaller ensembles from within the larger choir — we’ll have to see who comes out of the woodwork! I’ve chosen a few jazzy pieces with harmonies that are a little more challenging for singers who would like to showcase their pizzazz. With my musical theater background, I’m always looking for a good show. (Ha!) “Fruitcake,” for example, may involve finding enough men who are willing to put on aprons. I would also love to serve fruitcake during intermission, so if any of your readers have a good recipe — or would like to volunteer to make a few — send them my way! P.R.: How do the songs in general challenge the singers? D.C.: In programming the concert, I did my best to choose music that is accessible to the full group while still stretching us. We have only about 13 or 14 rehearsals, and we meet once a week on Tuesdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Much of the learning has to happen independently. We provide rehearsal tracks to help our singers learn their parts at home. The smaller ensembles help us balance the workload. The entire choir doesn’t have to carry quite as much repertoire in a short rehearsal period, while singers who want an additional challenge can take on tighter harmonies, more complex rhythms, extra staging and a few additional rehearsals. Some of the music challenges us through its energy and style. Other pieces ask for a more refined blend, balance and sensitivity. We want the fun and lighthearted moments, but we also want those beautiful musical moments that take real care and effort to create. A concert like this has many moving pieces, and this is a good opportunity to recognize our board, led by Maggi Messina and Mary Gootjes. They are doing an enormous amount of work behind the scenes, especially this year, and I am deeply grateful for the time, care and energy they give to the Park City Singers. We are also keeping our fingers crossed that our fabulous pianist from last season, Jie Fang Goh, will be able to return. Fang is going through the process of renewing his visa, and we very much hope to welcome him back. In the meantime, we have wonderful pianists helping to support the group. Benjamin Beckman, the artistic director and co-founder of Park City Opera, will be joining us during September. He is a gifted pianist, conductor, composer and vocal coach, and I expect his expertise to be tremendously valuable to our singers. I’m also hoping to bring in several special musicians to add instrumental color to the program. P.R.: The holiday season is always such a magical time of the year, so when selecting the songs for these concerts, what do you look for in terms of heightening that magical sentiment? D.C.: I’m glad you used the word “magical,” because that is part of why I wanted the selections to feel lighter this year. It is easy to get swept into the heaviness of everything happening in the world. I think there is value in remembering joy and creating moments when we can drop our shoulders and laugh out loud. I also thought a great deal about the people we are serving in Park City. These concerts fall on a Friday and Saturday just before the busiest weeks of the holidays. People are returning for the winter, college students are coming home, families are gathering again — grandparents are celebrating with young grandchildren.  I’m reminded of the lyrics in the classic “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” — “There’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow.”  Last year, I noticed that we had a lovely number of younger children in the audience. I want this to feel like an event families can attend together in the midst of all the busy. It shouldn’t be too long or too much of a lift to get everyone into the car. My intention is to keep the concert moving and the energy high, with familiar holiday music, some unexpected arrangements and a few quieter moments of real beauty. At the end of the evening, we want people to feel touched and to feel that coming out to support music in their community was worth their time. P.R.: Do you have a favorite holiday memory from your youth? D.C.: What a great question. I feel very fortunate when I think about my childhood Christmases, especially Christmas Eve. My parents hosted our family, my mom made lasagna, my aunt arrived with brownies, Hello Dolly bars and fudge, and my grandparents always brought that special box of See’s Candies. What I remember most is the anticipation and the feeling of being together with my sister, cousins, food, old movies like “A Christmas Story” and “White Christmas,” garland on the banister, a sparkling tree and my dad setting up the train set from his childhood. I’ve got really strong music memories wrapped up in those moments too — Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and all the old holiday classics. As I got older and began playing the piano, my parents would gently encourage me to “whip up” a few holiday tunes for the family. I laugh about it now, although I took the assignment pretty seriously at the time. Park City Singers rehearsals When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays Where: Park City Community Church, 4501 N. S.R. 224 Web: parkcitysingers.org/join-us.html The post Park City Singers sing in the season with rehearsals appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less