Musical Coterie members shared the joy of singing carols during holiday program
Members of Forrest City Musical Coterie met Monday, Dec. 13, for a holiday program.
Carla Nimocks was the program leader, and the Christmas Chorus first performed “12 Days After Christmas.”
“This was fun and so not the original 12 Days of Christmas. It was a fun song,” said club member Opal Chapman. “We followed with an old song, “Chimes of a Holy Night” a twopart cantata by Fred B. Holton in the 1900s. Carla had found these in the Coterie closet. They had been purchased for 50 cents. The song we sang was called ‘Christmas Bells are Ringing.’ This was done by the Coterie Chorus in the past and sung at this meeting by a new generation.”
Susie Jones and Janet Duffel played a duet on the piano, “Carol of the Bells,” written by Mykola Leontovych in 1914. “They did an excellent rendition,” said Chapmen.
Nimocks led the chorus in “The Little Drummer Boy” that was originally titled, “Carols of the Drums.” She gave special thanks to Lee O’Banion, who skillfully played the triangle during this song.
Nimocks introduced Christmas Bells with special recognition of the talented ladies joining in on the ringing of bells, including: Alice Miller, Debbie Capps and Maurica Dooley. “They did a wonderful job, and the chorus did too,” said Chapman.
“A Christmas Praise” was sung by four ladies, including Janet Northcutt, Nimocks, Martie Ramsey, and Jones.
“It was played beautifully by Janet Duffel on the piano,” said Chapman. “It was a moving praise and they sung it professionally. It was a real treat for us all. Next, Carla asked all the ladies of the club to stand and sing some carols with the Chorus.”
Club members sang “Away in the Manger,” “Deck the Halls,” “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Joy to the World,” and ended with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
The chorus sang one last song, “Go with a Song in Your Heart,” with Nimocks calling it the group’s theme song.
“Janis Leake performed the narration. It was a sweet and tender song that gave a wonderful message. Carla ended our program with a pause, as Leak thanked the Coterie for allowing us to share the joy of music,” said Chapman.
She continued, “We hope you have enjoyed it, presented by our own Coterie Chorus. We hope you will keep a song in your heart.”
“Then the Chorus finished the beautiful song giving us all a melody to take with us throughout this Christmas season. Thank you all who participated in the program,” said Chapman.