The Park City Singers will put on their annual Christmas concert this month after a two-year hiatus.
Joe Demers is the artistic director of the Park City Singers as well as an instructional coach at Parleys Park Elementary. He said this year’s performance will be a step above the previous years.
"Everybody's so excited," Demers said. "This group of singers has been so good in practicing every week and when they come back the next week we don't have to spend a lot of time and fixing notes. We can work on the artistic aspect and letting the songs live and breathe, which is awesome.”
During the hiatus the group added new voices including some in the bass and tenor section. He also said there will be a special guest to celebrate their anniversary.
“We have a guest artist that's going to join us, his name's B Murphy, and he's going to sing a song," Demers said. "He's taught the choir to do a gospel rendition of a variety of different carols that are in embedded in it. And he's got a lot of energy and I think everybody will enjoy that.”
Mary Gootjes, a vocalist with Park City Singers, said they will perform a variety of songs from traditional holiday carols to folk music.
“We also have a song in Hebrew called 'Bashana Haba’ah' and we have a cellist performing with us on that one. It's a beautiful, beautiful song. The lyrics are all in Hebrew for that song.”
Gootjes added that the performance takes months to get just right. The group starts rehearsing the Tuesday after Labor Day once a week for two hours.
“People love the rehearsals. I mean, when I go home at nine o'clock on a Tuesday evening after rehearsing, it's just, I'm feel like I'm on cloud nine," Gootjes said. "There's something about singing that I believe just releases endorphins and so that's why people do it and devote one evening a week to it.”
The performances are Dec. 9 and Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Park City Community Church located behind the Park City Nursery.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for children under 12 and can be purchased at the door or online.
