CHRISTMAS CLASSIC
What: A Child’s Christmas in Wales with Vox Humana When: 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday Where: Saturday at St. Mary’s Anglican Church (1973 Cultra Ave., Saanichton) and Sunday at Alix Goolden Performance Hall (907 Pandora Ave.) Tickets: By donation For more information, visit: voxhumanachoir.ca
The music director of the Vox Humana chamber choir says the annual performance of Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales is one of his fondest holiday traditions.
“These performances are always very dear to me,” said Brian Wismath, who will lead the choir as it accompanies a reading of the story by retired school teacher Melville Jones, who has Welsh roots. “I remember as a child growing up listening at Christmas on CBC Radio.”
The Welsh poet’s heartwarming childhood story, recorded in 1952, is a crowd favourite, too. This is the choir’s eighth year of featuring it in a concert, which includes traditional and contemporary music.
“One of the ideas behind the concert is that we wanted to create a unique holiday tradition for people with a focus on something for the whole family,” said Wismath, noting Jones “has a great Welsh accent and sang in the Welsh men’s choir.”
Thomas originally recorded his Christmas story for the BBC, for which he often wrote scripts. It was later published in Harper’s Bazaar magazine. When Thomas showed up to an American studio to record his poems, including the famous Do not go gently into that good night, he needed a B-side recording and read from the magazine. The recording became hugely popular and was even said to help launch the audiobook industry.
Thomas, who struggled with alcoholism and health problems, died a year after he recorded the piece, at age 39.
“He had his struggles, but wrote some really interesting prose. This story is full of life and energy,” Wismath said.
The concert will include some Welsh and Canadian music, including an arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s River.
It concludes a busy year for the 26-member choir, which started as an a capella ensemble in the 1990s. Members are auditioned and come from diverse musical backgrounds, from music students to Victoria Symphony members.
“We’ve grown in the last number of years to work closely with other organizations and focus on new music,” said Wismath, who took over the choir in 2010 and leads five musical groups in town.
Vox Humana just wrapped up a series of concerts with the symphony and will unite with rock and pop choir the Choir in January.
“We also have our Vox in the Stars program at the observatory,” said Wismath, who described Victoria as having a wealth of choral groups, from community to professional.
“There’s a real energy that comes from the passion within singers at every level,” he said. “A singer’s instrument is inside them, which is a powerful idea. And they work with texts. There is a lot [for audiences] to connect with.”