100 voices plus 2 shows equals perfect harmony

SUN CITY – One hundred voices talking all at once makes cacophony. But 100 voices all singing in harmony makes the 2010 Prairie Singers Christmas concert.

Prairie Singers President Dwight Esau leads a Prairie Singers sectional practice at his home. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)

The concert will be held at 1 p.m. December 18 and 2 p.m. December 19 at Huntley High School. The show will offer a unique and creative potpourri of music ranging from traditional sacred selections such as “O Holy Night” and “Carol of the Magi;” cross-cultural holiday songs from Hawaii, Brazil, and Old England; many favorite carols; and a novelty number depicting a child’s outlandish gift request. Patriotism and Christmas will be combined in an arrangement of the sentimental favorite, “I’ll be Home for Christmas.” Special staging and production performances by dancers will add creative touches to several numbers.

“Our audience members will enjoy a rich and unique Christmas experience in this concert. They can sing along to carols they learned as a child, and they can learn how Christmas is sung about in other cultures. They can worship, celebrate, laugh, and reflect about all the themes of this holy and delightful season,” said Prairie Singers President Dwight Esau, who’s been singing with the group since its inception in 2001.

Rehearsals for the Christmas concert begin after Labor Day. The singers practice for two hours every Tuesday religiously until showtime, demonstrating their harmony in work ethic along with the tuning of their voices.

The Prairie Singers began as an informal group sing-along of 35 or 40 members in 2001 before organizing into the near-professional establishment it is today.

“I think [the founder] envisioned that we would be a formally performing choir someday,” Esau said. “But the way to start is to get together and start singing songs and see how the interest goes.”

All five of the choral group’s past presidents remain active in the group’s singing and leadership activities. They are (in order of their service) Carolyn Kleen, Jeanie Bulmahn, Dennis Quinn, R.D. Holloman, and Ken Pohlmann.

The Prairie Singers have spun off two affiliate groups in the past few years. They are the Prairie Voices, a select 25-member ensemble that performs 30-40 times annually at nursing homes, schools, retirement communities, churches, and Sun City Neighborhood and Charter Group events; and the Sun-Tones, a barbershop group of about 12 members who also perform regularly at venues throughout the Sun City area.

Since 2008, the Prairie Singers have been directed by Nancy Cross, director of choral music at Huntley High School. They are accompanied at rehearsal and concerts by Ellen Lawrence of Elgin, a professional instrumental and keyboard artist. For the past two years, the Singers have also been accompanied at concerts by members of the Sun City Concert Band, directed by Donna Bressler.

In the eight years the Prairie Singers have been active, Esau said that in addition to the number of members, the skill level of singers has grown into something special, now offering a “greater, more comprehensive diversity of our music,” Esau said.

Esau added that the broad range Prairie Singers employ today will be the highlight of this year’s Prairie Singers 2010 Christmas Concert.

“We do songs that people know. We perform music that people are familiar with,” Esau said. “But some of the arrangements are very difficult technically.”

With reporting by Dwight Esau.

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