A sparkling Christmas concert

December is always a mad dash to finish shopping and other seasonal errands. So it’s satisfying to de-stress by listening to a choir sing and tell a story.

It is the St. Albert Singers Guild’s 30th anniversary and in looking back in time the theme of community is uppermost in their mind.

In that vein, their seasonal gift to St. Albert is I Wish You Christmas, a tale of a family and a community that comes together after a fire. It’s a show about a small community, any community.

“It’s about a typical family that has crises and stresses of Christmas. They need to make it perfect – the decoration, buying presents and making a turkey. But they discover all the decorations are superfluous when they encounter a crisis,” says artistic director Criselda Mierau.

The central family’s home burns down on Christmas Eve and anyone in the family could have been responsible.

The story is based on a real-life experience that happened to Mierau when she was in Grade 5 living in Herbert, Saskatchewan.

“We were sitting in church and heard fire sirens. Our house had burned down. All we lost was my little cat. In the end we were able to walk away. It was just stuff.”

The singing tale is peopled with an odd assortment of characters including a loopy grandma and grandpa, a Goth teen, a disengaged father who doesn’t know how to re-engage and a mother who tries too hard to create perfection.

There is even a mysterious woman modelled after the Snow Queen from fairy tales.

“She’s interesting. She has this magical quality.”

The Women’s Choir of 30 and the Mixed Choir of 60 choristers sing 17 numbers that serve to heighten the original story. With the exception of two, the song repertoire focuses on the theme of light.

Sure On This Shining Night is a modern classic that shows off the choir in six- to eight-part harmonies.

“It’s huge in places and so tiny and intimate in other places. It moves the soul immediately.”

The Women’s Choir sitting in the choir loft sings Sparkle Jolly Twinkle Jingly while decorating the tree while John Rutter’s hauntingly beautiful title piece is very different from his normal style.

“He normally writes in a staid style. But this piece is a more complex pop piece. But it still has Rutter’s gorgeous melodies, his gorgeous harmonies and the phrasing he is so well known for.

Perhaps Mierau’s favourite is Jan Garrett’s Solstice Song arranged by Larry Nickel.

“He (Nickel) is beyond brilliant. He found a small folk song and turned it into something stunning.”

I Wish You Christmas takes place at St. Albert United Church on Dec. 12 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.