Church News December 2015

By Barbara Wayland

We are entering those last few weeks of the year when so much is happening it is hard to know where to begin.

This last rush begins with American Thanksgiving, which includes feasts and gratitude. It gives us time with family and friends, the opportunity to count our blessings, and is the official beginning of what in this country is called the holiday season. Trinity offers several events to help you celebrate.

The annual Trinity Community Choir Christmas Concert is a major favorite here in Point Roberts. This year it will be on Friday, December 18 at 7:30 p.m. The program will feature a variety of traditional, modern, sacred and popular Christmas songs and will include some featured soloists, instrumentalists and, of course, a sing-along or two.

Because it is so popular I recommend getting there a few minutes early so you can get a good seat. As in past years there will be a luscious dessert reception following in the church social hall.

Sunday evening December 20 at 7 p.m. will be the second of two benefit concerts sponsored by Trinity for the new Point Roberts Library. The evening will feature trumpeter Ray Kirkham and organist Edward Norman. Both men are well-known musicians in Vancouver and beyond.

Ray Kirkham is a distinguished musician and teacher on the Vancouver music scene. Now retired from the Vancouver Symphony where he served as second trumpet, he is also a former member of the CBC Radio Orchestra. He taught at the University of B.C. (UBC), the Vancouver Academy of Music and Trinity Western University at Langley, B.C.

Edward Norman is also a celebrated local musician and was for many years organist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and organ instructor at UBC.

As a recitalist he has appeared widely in Canada, the U.S. and the UK. Over the years he has been heard frequently on CBC Radio as a recitalist and accompanist. He is currently organ instructor and faculty accompanist at Trinity Western University. For 10 years, Norman was also a music producer with CBC Radio.

The musicians will offer a program that includes the music of Puccini, Bach, Purcell, Charpentier, Handel and more. According to Kirkham, the program will be somewhat seasonal but will include a variety of classical music including baroque and opera as well as some advent carols.

Since the paper is coming out early for Thanksgiving I have one last chance to remind you of the first benefit concert for the library on Saturday, November 22, when the Bergamasca Recorders return with an evening of music. The group will perform a variety of music including a few Christmas pieces and everyone attending will be invited to a reception following the concert hosted by Dick and Lucy Williams.

All of us at Trinity wish all of you the happiest of Christmases and a healthy and prosperous New Year.