- WARM UP THOSE WINDPIPES: The Forbes Pipe Organ Holiday Concert and Sing-along takes place Dec. 20 at 3 p.m. at the PAC. Tickets cost $12 and can be purchased at pacslo.org or by calling 756-2787.
The PAC is billing the show—the Forbes Pipe Organ Holiday Concert and Sing-along, going down Dec. 20 at 3 p.m.—as a “traditional holiday show with an interactive twist.” Damn that interactive twist! What’s wrong with good-old-fashioned tradition? Also, what idiot invented the word staycation? You’re either going on vacation or you’re sitting in your backyard drinking Pabst all day, and the latter is not a vacation, especially if it’s the same nonsense you pull every day, and sometimes in your underwear.
But I digress.
- PHOTO COURTESY BRIAN LAWLER
- JOIN THEM : Dawn Sutton-Spare, Ashala Lawler, and Ty Green are members of Vocal Arts Ensemble, one of half a dozen choruses performing at the sing-along.
The set list is impressive; between the half-dozen choirs and audience-participation carols, just about every major holiday song is covered. “Deck the Halls,” “Silent Night,” “Twelve Days of Christmas,” “Jingle Bells,” “White Christmas,” “Joy to the World,” Angels We Have Heard on High,” it’s like a freaking who’s who of snow and boughs and mistletoe and partridges in pear trees, a kaleidoscope of tradition and wintry wonderlands for Californians parched by sun and palm trees. But it’s not an easy job creating a holiday set list, according to university organist Woodring.
- PHOTO COURTESY BRIAN LAWLER
Woodring’s performance on the pipe organ bookends the entire event; he plays both a prelude and postlude. Having participated every year, he’s observed how the audience fares during the participatory segment. “Frosty the Snowman” didn’t work out so well. All those thumpity thumps at the end apparently create some confusion. But when “Jingle Bells” comes around, voices swell to a collective roar.
The PAC supplies the lyrics to minimize confused word-mashing, and Gary Lamprecht, founder and director of the SLO Vocal Arts Ensemble, bravely leads the audience, providing encouragement when necessary. As the ringleader, Lamprecht loosens up his audience—which always includes a few wise reluctant singers—by being chatty and informal.
- PHOTO COURTESY BRIAN LAWLER
“Singing is a lot more about exposing your soul than any other kind of music. Everybody can sing,” Svennungsen assured. “It’s a learned behavior. We’re innately able to sing. But our culture doesn’t value that. We let the pop stars dictate to us what music is.”
Not to undermine her professional opinion, but clearly Svennungsen hasn’t heard me sing—or anyone else I know, for that matter. That said, what is Christmas for if not collectively humiliating ourselves belting out “Silver Bells?”
Arts Editor Ashley Schwellenbach sings worse than Miley Cyrus. Send a muzzle to [email protected].
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