The 28th season of the Southern Oregon Repertory Singers, under the direction of Dr. Paul French, began in October and continues this December with the annual holiday concert, Make We Joy. Medford resident and Repertory Singers member Ed Houck says that the “holidays just don’t start until this concert has been sung and the audience has left full of joy and seasonal spirit.” Repertory Singers will be accompanied by wind quartet, piano, organ, harp and the Chamber Choir from North Medford High School for a festive program of carols, in original and modern versions. Vaughan Williams’ stirring cantata “Hodie” requires the full force of instruments and choir, along with touching solos. Expect a stirring celebration of the season. The concert will culminate in the traditional holiday sing-along.
Special guests, the North Medford High School Chamber Choir is a 23-voiced ensemble of auditioned singers in grades 10 through 12. In recent years, it has ranked among the top high school choirs in Southern Oregon and frequently performs around the community. According to Julie Weller, who directs the Women’s and Men’s Choirs, the Concert Choir, and the Chamber Choir at North Medford High School, students in this ensemble learn their music exclusively by sight-reading, as no pianos or instrumental accompaniments are used for rehearsal aides.
Dr. French adds, “Our commitment to lifelong learning and the magic of choral music is accomplished in part by inviting ensembles like the North Medford Chamber Choir, Rogue Valley Children’s Chorus and SOU Chamber Choir to join us this season. I would say that practically every singer in Repertory Singers started their own choral careers singing in elementary, middle or high school. The process goes full circle. What an honor for us all to sing together.”
Resident composer and versatile keyboard player Jodi French regularly adds to the repertoire of new pieces. “I was born fascinated by sound and pitch, so music has always been a joyful game and thrilling challenge,” she says. Her scintillating new arrangement of the Beatles’ “Hard Day’s Night” started the season off, and many are eagerly awaiting a newly commissioned work, to be heard for the first time at the holiday concert, Make We Joy.
Paul French takes pride in keeping his audiences on the edge of their seats, thrilling them with exquisite performances of well-established pieces from the great composers as well as exciting new music or modern settings of well-known themes. As he describes it, so-called “classical” music has often tended to arise from the “popular” ‒ ranging from well-known troubadour songs that emerged heavily disguised in medieval masses to the touching or mysterious Scottish and English folksongs that inspired Ralph Vaughan Williams and the contemporary composer James MacMillan. Paul and Jodi French are committed to making all kinds of music accessible while keeping standards as high as they can make them.
“We look forward to treating our audiences to concerts this year that will bring the beauty of choral singing into their lives,” said Dr. French. “Who says classical music can’t be fun?”
Make We Joy will be performed Saturday, December 21, 7:30 pm & Sunday December 22, 3:00 pm. All concerts are at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall in Ashland.
All tickets are reserved seating and individual tickets start at $22. Tickets are available online at www.repsingers.org or by phone at (541) 552-0900. Advance reservations are recommended.
