With a Pre-Concert Pipestone Youth Performance at 6:30pm

Pipestone Orchestra and Cascadia Chorale, with the largest group of singers in its history, will present a broad selection of seasonal music at Cascadia’s annual Holiday Concerts, December 10 and 11 in the Methow Valley Community Center.

“We have the largest chorale ever, numbering 58 singers,” said director Dana Stromberger. “We have five teens singing this year, each with a parent, so that’s really fun.”
In her second year of leading the Cascadia Chorale, Stromberger said she’s chosen musical selections reflecting themes of the holiday and the winter season. The program includes popular holiday songs such as “White Christmas” and a jazzy version of “Deck the Halls.”

Songs about Hanukkah and Christmas include “Carol of the Magi,” accompanied by strings and solo cello. The piece is “hauntingly beautiful,” Stromberger said. Cascadia Chorale will also sing two choruses from Handel’s “Messiah,” accompanied by the Pipestone Orchestra, and the beautiful “Pastorale” from the Messiah will be performed by the Pipestone Orchestra strings.

With 26 musicians from the Methow Valley, and some visiting talent from the Okanogan Orchestra, the Pipestone Orchestra will accompany the choir on five songs. Conductor Tara Kaiyala Weaver will lead the orchestra in three other pieces, including “Christmas Waltz” by Tchaikovsky, “Let It Snow!” and “German Carol Festival,” which includes six holiday songs.

Weaver, in her second year as Pipestone conductor, said she chose a program that is “fun, light-hearted, recognizable and season-appropriate.”

DATES: Dec 10, 11, 7pm, pre-concert Pipestone Youth performance, 6:30pm.  By donation. Food at intermission will be provided by Friends of the Pool and the Methow Valley Nordic Team. CONTACT: 509.997.2926. LOCATION: MV Community Center, Twisp, WA