Concert Choir to Present Noel
Christmas Musical December 1, 2007

By Jim Day

“Christmas is the best time of the year.” That message is still true today. The best time: a time of wonder, laughter, excitement, celebration, surprises, peace and joy. This year, the St. Louis Concert Choir presents their annual musical celebration of the holiday, Noel, on Saturday, December 1, at the Pillsbury Chapel in the Dale Williams Fine Arts Center on the campus of Missouri Baptist University in west St. Louis County.

Noel will be a spectacular Christmas celebration for the whole family. Employing beautiful choral and solo music, elegant dance, joyful children, creative staging, dramatic storytelling, and state-of-the-art sound and lighting, this year’s annual Christmas production is designed to warm every heart and bring the wonder of Christmas to all.

The St. Louis Concert Choir will bring together a cast of over 70 of the metro area’s brightest and best singers, dancers, actors and kids to share the familiar songs of Christmas, the carols that we all love, the story of the Baby in the manger, and the delight that this holiday brings to young and old. Celebrating their eleventh season together, the St. Louis Concert Choir, under the direction of veteran conductor, Bob Pickett, is a community choir of Christian musicians from all across the Greater St. Louis area. Representing nearly 30 different churches, the Choir rehearses monthly at Grace Church - Saint Louis in Maryland Heights. This enthusiastic group of dedicated and talented singers will join forces with the Ekklesia Dance Company and the Ekklesia Kids under the direction of choreographer, Christina McArthur Rongey, to present a concert of favorite Christmas music, old and new.

Noel will have something for everyone. The audience will have a chance to reflect on their favorite Christmas memories, they will laugh and cheer, nod in agreement and perhaps shed a tear, and sing along with the Choir on thrilling arrangements of music that touch the heart. The program also includes a trip to Bethlehem to meet the eyewitnesses to the birth of Jesus, each one sharing their insights from the encounter with the Savior, as the actors and Choir present the real story of the first Christmas with a live nativity scene.

Audiences will be treated to the vocal and dramatic talents of America’s premiere biblical actor, Ken Lee. Mr. Lee, a resident of St. Charles, MO is back with the Choir as a special guest artist, member of The Three Tenors, and dramatic director for the production. His ability to entertain and evoke laughter from an audience is legendary and this year will be no exception. For over 30 years, Mr. Lee has traveled the country presenting his one-man dramatic sketches of biblical characters with humor and power. He also conducts summer drama workshops in the St. Louis area, teaches classes at Missouri Baptist University and pastors a church in Lake St. Louis. Joining Ken are two other powerful tenor vocalists and audience favorites, Brian Flanagan, soloist and songwriter from Florissant, MO and Brian Brown, popular Nashville vocalist and studio artist whose memorable solo performance on Let Freedom Ring was the highlight of the Concert Choir’s production, Red, White & Blue Christmas. All three will be featured in solo performances as well as joining forces as The Three Tenors.

In addition, this year’s program features two new elements. Concert flautist, Jim Mayhew, joins this year’s cast as a featured artist. Jim, a graduate of the University of Missouri – St. Louis, has performed his unique interpretations of traditional and original flute pieces throughout the metro area in concerts, coffee houses and seminars. A native American who interprets at the Arch, Jim plays a number of folk wind instruments that bring wonder to all ages.

The McCluer Drumline under the direction of Steven Travis will make a powerful guest appearance on the program as well, featuring percussion students from McCluer High School. Their energy and rhythm will shake the house.

Noel features a program of musical Christmas favorites including a medley of pop favorites from the 1950s and new and powerful songs that touch the heart. The St. Louis Concert Choir, along with the Concert Choir Ensemble, the Ekklesia Kids, and the Brotherhood Men’s Chorus are all featured on the program, singing classic carols and standards including We Need a Little Christmas, What Did You Say Was the Baby’s Name, Joy to the World, Una Fiesta Navidad and the stirring Grammy-nominated, You Raise Me Up. The Ensemble will perform the audience favorite, Deck the Halls Through the Decades portraying numerous American musical icons of the 20th century.

Combine the talents of the Concert Choir and Ensemble, the Three Tenors - whose powerful voices will fill the house - and the graceful dance troupe from Ekklesia, the rich vocals of the Brotherhood Men’s Chorus, the energetic Ekklesia Kids Chorus, the Drumline and the live nativity and there will be more variety than one can handle.

Noel will be presented two times at the Pillsbury Chapel at the Dale Williams Fine Arts Center on the campus of Missouri Baptist University, at Mason Rd. and Highway 40 in west St. Louis County where there is ample parking. Curtain times will be 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 1st and tickets are available by calling (800) 993-7464, or by contacting any member of the Choir. Singers interested in joining this on-going community choir are invited to contact Mr. Pickett at (636) 926-0701.

The St. Louis Concert Choir is a project of Concert Ministries, Inc. (CMI), of Orlando, FL and one of America’s foremost Christian producers, Thurlow Spurr. Concert Ministries Inc. has sponsored similar Choirs in Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, New York, and New Jersey, and is in their 35th season of presenting concerts in Michigan and Ohio. Involved in more than just making music, in June of last year, CMI took a team of volunteers for the second consecutive year to the Bahamas to give practical help to victims of the numerous hurricanes that pummeled the island nation. In July 2003 CMI put together a team of 250 singers and musicians from across the country and across the island state - including several members of the St. Louis Concert Choir - to travel to Hawaii and present a patriotic concert with famed inspirational recording artist, Larnelle Harris, at the Waikiki Shell. In 2000, the team traveled to Jerusalem to present the musical David - A Man After God’s Own Heart in the historic Citadel of David on the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. At the invitation of the Bethlehem city council, they also presented a concert entitled Christmas in June in Manger Square - the historic site of Christ’s birth - to help mark that city’s year-long celebration of the 2000th anniversary of Jesus’ birth. The St. Louis Concert Choir was birthed out of a similar tour in 1996 featuring 600 singers and many of America’s top Christian recording artists.

Bob Pickett, founder, producer and director of the Choir, has conducted Choirs across the USA for 35 years, traveling for six years and conducting 2000 concerts with the Festival of Praise Choir, directing the Grace Choir and GraceSingers at Grace Church - Saint Louis for over ten years, and rehearsing and organizing the 200-voice choirs for performances of The Young Messiah Tour, The Emmanuel Tour, and the Ensemble for The My Utmost for His Highest Tour, as they appeared in St. Louis at the Kiel Center, the Arena, and Riverport Amphitheater. In 2004 he was guest conductor at his alma mater for the Heidelberg College Alumni Choir and co-director of the St. Louis Worship Choir for the National Day of Prayer Concert of Prayer television broadcast. This past August he served as assistant director and musical coordinator for a grand union of 50 former members of the championship vocal ensemble, The Everett Chorale, representing nine graduating classes at Everett High School (Lansing, MI) for a retreat and packed out concert to honor their mentor, Tom Oakley Thompson, in a real-life Mr. Holland’s Opus experience. He currently serves as Associate Pastor and choir director at Grace Church.

In addition to the Concert Choir and the guest artists, the concert also features soloists Lesley Bridges (Sullivan, MO), Madeline Williams (St. Charles, MO), Jerome Rogers (Alorton, IL), Lisa Rogerson (St. Louis, MO), Joe Tolan (Florissant, MO), and newcomers Tammy Rogers (Wright City, MO) and Bob Senical (Lake St. Louis, MO)

Again, Noel will be presented two times at the Pillsbury Chapel at the Dale Williams Fine Arts Center on the campus of Missouri Baptist University. Curtain times will be 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 1st and tickets are available by calling (800) 993-7464, or by contacting any member of the Choir.