Flathead choirs gear up for 2012-13 season

Flathead High School’s choirs’ 2012-13 season kicks off Tuesday.

The choirs’ eight concerts are all free of charge and take place in the high school auditorium. Except for one holiday matinee, all the shows begin at 7:30 p.m. and will last about an hour. 

“Run Children Run” is the title of the fall opener on Tuesday. This concert celebrates the Olympics with international and athletic songs such as “Bicycle Race” (England), “Dragon Boat” (China),” Get’cha Head in The Game” (USA) and “Yonder Yonder” (Russia).

The holiday concert, “A Festival of Lights,” will be presented twice, at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11. Classic Christmas chorals on the theme of light, plus Hanukkah songs in ancient Hebrew, will ring out under a specially built canopy of hundreds of strings of light for a mystical and moving program spanning the ages.

On Jan. 10, the Flathead choirs host the Willamette (Oregon) University Choir  and Jazz Choir. This is one of the finest college choir programs in the nation, and the audience can expect an inspiring evening.

An upbeat program about social justice on Jan. 22 will recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and include speakers and performers from around the valley.

The Concert Choir will present its 2013 tour program Feb. 25.   Kalispell’s Crown of the Continent Choir, a community choir also led by Flathead choral Director Kevin Allen-Schmid, will share the stage.

Songs such as “Blackbird,” “Blue Moon,” “Over The Rainbow” and “True Colors” will illuminate the whole spectrum of sound and emotion for the choirs’ winter concert, “Colors,” on March 12.

On March 26, the Flathead Symphonic Band, Chamber Orchestra and Concert Choir team up to present a showcase concert. Each group will present two or three songs individually, then combine for the ever-impressive and bombastic “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana. 

“I Am A Trav’ler” will be the spring finale on May 21, in which the singers wish their senior choir mates bon voyage in song, as they set off to seek their fortunes.

“Audiences are in for a treat this year,” Allen-Schmid said. “The choirs have gotten off to a great start and are finding just the right blend of focus and fun in rehearsals.

“We have as much talent as we’ve ever had, and more young men singing than ever before. I’m excited for practice each day. I expect the community is going to be as thrilled with the singing and the antics of these choirs as I am.”