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Christmas Concert
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Mp3's |
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This is the booklet for the CD that came out. It reads:
Christmas Concert
O Come All Ye Faithful
The Joint Choir and Chamber Choir of
The Union of Evangelical Churches
Dr. Paul Ridgway, conducting
Recorded live
[at the] concert on December 11, 2005,
Bulgaria Hall, Sofia |
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After the success
of the May Concert, so many
people asked us when the next one was going to be that we simply had to do
another. So, on December 11th, 2005, after months of hard work and
preparation, the joint choirs of the evangelical denominations in Sofia (and
some from Plovdiv) again came together to praise the Lord and be a witness.
Despite the cold weather,
around 1200 people came out to hear the concert. Though this was
not quite as many as had come to hear the May Concert (possibly due to
weather), Bulgaria Hall was still filled to almost-capacity. The
audience was treated to a sixteen-song concert (including an encore)
that ranged from seasonal favorites such as "Joy to the World", "O Come
All Ye Faithful", and "O Holy Night" to lesser-known traditional pieces
such as "Still, Still, Still", "How Great our Joy", and Cornelius' "The
Kings" to more contemporary numbers such as "This Little Child", "Come
Let Us Worship the King", and "Some Children See Him."
Adding variety to the
program were an orchestral arrangement of "Angels we Have Heard on
High", several solos (including performances by Ridgway family members
Judy and Andrew), and an invitation to the audience to join in singing
"Silent Night." The song has recently been retranslated (previous
translations were inaccurate and used many archaisms), and the new
lyrics--that will be appearing in the upcoming Evangelical Hymnal--were
printed in the programs.
The concert received a
standing ovation from a very satisfied public, which was a tremendous
encouragement to the singers and instrumentalists (many of whom had
performed 'on stage' for the first time at the May Concert!). We
trust that the experience was a blessed one for all those involved,
whether performers or listeners.
As with the previous
concert, a recording was made, and we are happy to report that the
quality of the recording--both from a technical and musical
standpoint--is extremely high. Participants were each given their
choice of a free CD or cassette, and the remaining copies were made
available to the public at cost. MP3's of some of the songs are
available for download here.
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