[READ ABOUT] previous concerts
Ticket Information

WINTER LIGHTS Mid Winter CONCERT
December 14, 2002 (Saturday) - 8pm
Bellingham High School Auditorium.

We will be singing with local klezmer band, What the Chelm! Read about them and other superb musicians. Please check out their new website. They can be reach via email:info@whatthechelm.com

Our program will feature the musical style and tradition of Eastern Europe. You will love the spirit and color, passion and "soul" of this music. The words found within the songs tell of truth, kindness, love, despair, compassion, all a part of the celebration of life.

We borrow from the klezmer tradition: that of the "klezmorim", itinerant Jewish musicians who played for weddings, indeed all celebrations within the impoverished villages, the "shtetle" of Eastern Europe. The tradition migrated to the Americas along with the musicians, and a klezmer resurgence began in the 1960's. Our concert is about giving and receiving, reaching out to those who may see things differently than we do. We could certainly use some outreach and compassion, some love instead of hate, at a time when suspicion, mean spiritedness and selfishness seem to abound.

Program notes from our musical director, Roger Griffith:

# In the words of the old hymn we once again ask to BREAK BREAD TOGETHER ON OUR KNEES.
# In another great song from the African-American jubilee gospel tradition, we DIG A LITTLE DEEPER IN THE THE STOREHOUSE OF LOVE.
# EL NACIMIENTO is taken from a wonderful work by Argentine composer Ariel Ramirez. I believe our version, sent to us by the composer, may be the only copy of an arrangement made specifically for Jose Carreras (of Three Tenors fame) and used in his hallmark recording.
# LES TROIS CLOCHES (The Three Bells), made famous by Edith Piaf, is the beautiful story about the life of a boy in the French countryside.
# From the klezmer tradition,
- the wonderful song, FARBAY DI TEG (Those Were the Days), taken from the Yiddish theater of the last century, looks at the depth of life-long friendship.
- in TUM BALALAYKE a shy young man asks a riddle to a passing maiden in an attempt to catch her attention. From her reply he learns the deepest meaning of love. The answer brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it.
- in another, MEDHUTENESTE MAYNE (my inlaw) a mother laments the loss of her daughter in marriage, but warns the mother-in-law not to wake her daughter too early in the morning adding that "raising a daughter is a very difficult thing to do ..." The conclusion is even better
- The haunting eastern melody, ESMIRALDA, tells the story of the hunchback of Notre Dame who gets nothing but scorn and ridicule from the crowds while the outcast dancer, Esmiralda, offers him water and the joy of friendship.
# other songs include, MASTERS IN THIS HALL, SINGABAHAMBAYO, TRAVELIN' SHOES,YOU CAN'T HURRY GOD and BLOWIN IN THE WIND.

This brief review may seem a little heavy in the reading perhaps, but not in the listening. Add more exciting songs by chorus and band and you will be in for a concert not to be forgotten!

As always, for best seating arrive early. Bring a friend or the family and plan to have a great musical evening.