Fox County Players’ new chorus debuts with holiday concert

Sometimes, you just want to sing.

That is the thought behind the Fox County Players’ new community chorus, which gives area residents a chance to get together and make music.

“We would all say as performers that ‘oh, we miss the days when we were in choir in high school and college,’ and it’s difficult to find opportunities to sing together if you’re not involved in a church choir,” said Director Meg McGarry said. “Some of us were talking about how wonderful it would be to sing together — just get together and sing concert type music and so the community choir idea was born.”

After rehearsing for the past two months, the Community Chorus will present its first concert — “‘Tis the Season.” Performances of the holiday concert are at 7 p.m. Dec. 17 and 2 p.m. Dec. 18 at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove.

“We are having a carol sing-a-long that the audience is invited to join in on, as well as singing some traditional Christmas music,” McGarry said.

The program will include music from different holidays of the season, along with more contemporary songs, she said. There will also be some solos and a couple of comedy pieces.

“We have a wide variety of entertainment on the docket for the night. We’ll have some different types of things. We’ll have the traditional music that a lot people really enjoy around the holiday seasons, like ‘White Christmas’ and ‘O Holy Night.'” McGarry said. “We even have an a cappella piece that we’re singing. But then also, we do have a couple of really funny comedy songs that the choir is having fun preparing. It should be fun stuff.”

In the spirit of the holidays, the chorus will be collecting toys for Toys for Tots.

“One of the songs we’re singing is called ‘A Gift for Every Child.'” McGarry said. “When we found that song it really kind of struck a chord with us when we were in the initial planning process.”

Currently there are 20 members in the Community Chorus, which is open to those high school age and older.

“It’s a come as you are, no auditions choir. Anyone is welcome,” McGarry said. “We would love it if we had 50 or 100, but 20 is a great starting number. And we’re making good sound together.”

Members come from throughout the Fox Valley area, including Aurora, Yorkville and Sugar Grove. Members’ ages range from 16 to 60s.

“It has a really nice community feel,” said McGarry, who lives in Plano.

One of the members is a teacher at Yorkville High School, and some of the younger people who came to join the choir had not seen her since they were her students, he said.

Initially the chorus planned to meet for rehearsals once or twice a month, McGarry said. But when Fox County Players finished its fall production of “Sister Act,” the short time span between the musical and concert meant a more rigorous rehearsal schedule, she said. The chorus has been rehearsing twice a week, meeting at Waubonsee Community College and Yorkville Congregational Church.

Membership will likely increase, as several people expressed interest but could not join because of other commitments during the season.

“We definitely had a lot of interest with people who were just too busy with the holidays to get involved now, but are definitely continuing with our choir after the holiday season,” McGarry said.

The chorus is looking to perform a spring concert and possibly a summer showcase, she said.

“At a minimum we’d like to do two concerts a year,” McGarry said.

The chorus is still welcoming people to join, she said. However, choir members must be at least high school age.

“We did set the age high school level or up so that people have at least some experience at an adult level,” McGarry said.

Fox Country Players hopes this fills a void for those who want to continue to sing after participating in school choirs. Unless someone is able to audition into higher-level choirs, commute into the city or possibly even pay to be a part of, it is difficult to find opportunities, she said.

Those interested in participating in the Community Chorus, or purchasing tickets to “‘Tis the Season,” can contact Fox Country Players through its website at www.foxcountryplayers.org

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“It’s something we can do right here in the community and we can all sing and make music together,” McGarry said. “The sound that we’re making is just lovely. And we’re very excited for people to hear our first concert because it’s really sounding beautiful. Everybody’s so happy to be singing; I think you can just feel that in the room when we’re singing together. We’re excited.”

Kathy Cichon is a freelance writer.

”Tis the Season’ holiday concert

When: Dec. 17-18

Where: Waubonsee Community College, Route 47 at Waubonsee Drive, Sugar Grove

Tickets: $10 adults; $5 students and seniors 65+

Information: www.foxcountryplayers.org