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Park City Treble Makers get a jump on the holiday season

Park City Treble Makers, the 16-voice, all-female a cappella choir, will kick off its holiday season performances on Nov. 13 at Elk Meadows Assisted Living. The season will end with a public concert on Dec. 15 at Park City Community Church. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)
Park Record file photo

What: Park City Treble Makers

When: 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8

Where: Private Park City Home

Cost: $20

Email: suprnurse@askdrtownsend.com

What: Park City Treble Makers

When: 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15

Where: Park City Community Church, 4501 N. S.R 224

Cost: Donation of any amount

Park City Treble Makers Christmas performance schedule

• Nov. 13 — Elk Meadows Assisted Living, 400 W. 4200 North, Oakley, 6:30 p.m.

• Dec. 4 — Beehive Home, 241 Highland Drive, 6 p.m.

• Dec. 5 — Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club, 8770 Jeremy Rd., 6:30 p.m.

• Dec. 6 — The Ridge Foothill, 2363 Foothill Drive, Salt Lake City, 4 p.m.

• Dec. 6 — Highland Cove Retirement Community, 3750 S. Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, 5:30 p.m.

• Dec. 8 — Salon Concert at a private Park City home, 4 p.m.

• Dec. 11 — Newcomers Club of Greater Park City Christmas Luncheon, Park City Community Church, 4501 N. S.R. 224, 10:45 a.m.

• Dec. 12 — Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City, 6:10 p.m.

• Dec. 15 — Public concert, Park City Community Church, 4501 N. S.R. 224, 4 p.m.

Christmas comes early for the Park City Treble Makers this year.

The 16-voice, all-female a cappella choir will start its eight-performance season with a performance on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at Elk Meadows Assisted Living in Oakley, and wrap up with a public concert on Dec. 15 at the Park City Community Church.

Director Colleen Earnshaw said the Elk Meadows performance will take place during the facility’s Thanksgiving party.



“They asked us to come perform, and I told them it would be Christmas music, and they said, ‘great,’” Earnshaw said.

I feel you have to have something that will push the singers to do something they don’t think they can do…” Colleen Earnshaw, Park City Treble Makers director

Elk Meadows isn’t the only assisted living facility on the chorus’ schedule. It will also perform Dec. 4 at the Beehive Home in Park City, and then sing two performances on Dec. 6 at The Ridge and the Highland Cove Care Center in Salt Lake City.



“The reason why we want to perform at the Beehive Home is because some of the past vocalists from Park City Singers, whom many of us have performed with, are now living in that facility,” Earnshaw said. “And we chose the Salt Lake centers because the mothers of our singers now reside in those facilities.”

Earnshaw enjoys performing for the residents of assisted living facilities.

“They are so loving and forgiving,” she said. “And that makes them great places for us to sing and really listen to what we need to work on.”

The singers will travel down the canyon for another Salt Lake concert on Dec. 12 at the Capitol Theatre.

“We have been asked to sing in the foyer before a performance of Ballet West’s ‘The Nutcracker,’” Earnshaw said. “This is an honor, and it’s something we haven’t done before.”

The remaining Park City performances include a Dec. 5 date at Jeremy Ranch Country Club, a salon concert on Dec. 8 in a private home in Park City and the Newcomers Club of Greater Park City’s Christmas luncheon on Dec. 11 at Park City Community Church. Tickets for the Dec. 8 salon concert are $20 and limited, according to Earnshaw.

The venue’s address will be given to ticket purchasers and they can be reserved by emailing Joan Townsend at suprnurse@askdrtownsend.com..

Those who can’t attend the previous concert will have the opportunity to hear the Treble Makers at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15, with a public concert at Park City Community Church. Admission to the concert, which is also open to families and children, is by donation, Earnshaw said.

“We have a really good relationship with Park City Community Church, and we sing in their Sunday services to pay our rent,” she said.

The concert will feature a mix of sacred and secular music, from “‘Veni Veni Emmanuel’ arranged by Michael John Trotta, to “Santa Baby,” by Joan Javits and Philip Springer, said second soprano Renee Mox Hall.

“It just doesn’t feel like Christmas to me without Christmas music that we can perform,” she said. “The mall music doesn’t do anything for me, because I need to participate. I need to create it with the people I love.”

“Veni Veni Emmanuel,” a unique arrangement of “O Come Emmanuel,” is a challenging piece, Mox Hall said.

“When Colleen introduced us to it, she told us that she didn’t want us to be intimidated, which, of course, intimidated us,” she said with a laugh. “It splits into eight-part harmony, and it’s based on a 19th century chant, paired with the 18th century Latin hymn.”

Earnshaw first found the piece on the internet in May.

“When I first heard it, I knew I wanted to do it,” she said. “It’s tricky, and the first sopranos need to carry the melody, because everyone else is chanting.”

Earnshaw said it is important to challenge her singers.

“I’ve been involved with music as a music teacher for a long time, and I feel you have to have something that will push the singers to do something they don’t think they can do,” she said. “I have found that although they may not think they can do something, they really can.”

Still, there has to be some love behind the challenge, Earnshaw said.

“We have to have songs that we get super excited to perform,” she said.

The program will also include Audrey Snyder’s arrangements of “Coventry Carol” and “Good Tidings of Comfort and Joy,” the latter being a version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

“Audrey works a lot with rhythms,” Earnshaw said. “The music for ‘Coventry Carol’ feels like you’re rocking a baby to sleep, and we are using a drum accompaniment in ‘Good Tidings.’”

Percussion will also highlight the African hymn, “Alleluia Alleluia.”

“We performed this last season, and decided to put in a drum, woodblock and tambourine this year,” Earnshaw said. “I’ve introduced more rhythmic instruments in this concert because they add to what we’re performing.”

The concert will also feature the Great American Songbook Christmas songs — Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” by Kim Cannon and Walter Kent, and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane.

“I wanted to pull in some of the nostalgic pieces, and I think many people will be happy to hear these,” Earnshaw said.

The concert, which will end with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” is filled with songs that help Earnshaw feel the spirit of Christmas.

“I need to have that ‘give me chills’ moment to feel the true meaning of Christmas,” she said. “I think it’s fun with Santa and all of that, but I love bringing the true message of Christ into it.”

Mox Hall finds joy in singing with other singers.

“I feel a connection with a project I have worked on with other people who have the same goals that I do,” she said. “Performing these concerts is our purpose, the season is more pleasurable when we can share our gifts with others.”

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