Timaru musicians will be swinging and singing as the Bay City Big Band and Height of Harmony choir join forces on Sunday.
Swing and Sing for Christmas will be held at St Mary’s Church, Timaru at 2pm on Sunday.
Featuring the big band sound of the Bay City Big Band and the harmonies of the Height of Harmony barbershop chorus, the programme is varied.
It will include big band arrangements of songs like Fly Me To The Moon and Uptown Girl, and will feature the band and the chorus joining together to perform Let It Snow and Jingle Bell Rock, before the band steps back to let the voices of the chorus take over.
Big Band founder Jody Keehan will perform with the band and compere the concert.
The Bay City Big Band was formed in the early 1990s, and recorded cassettes and a CD in the early 2000s.
It went into recess in about 2005, reinvented itself in 2019, and has been constantly rehearsing since then.
In the early days of the band, it had a busy schedule performing at conferences, balls, outdoor festivals and private gatherings.
Musical director Kent Smith said there had been fewer opportunities to play in recent times, so the band had last year organised two successful Sunday afternoon ‘‘tea dances’’.
‘‘Moving forward, we are constantly looking to find suitable events to play at so we can expose the wonderful local talents we have here in South Canterbury.’’
Height of Harmony has an equally long history under the stewardship of local musicians including John McMillan, Rosie Staite and Ros Taylor.
From the original chorus, a number of quartets have been formed.
‘‘The Southerners’’ placed third at national competitions in 1995, and a number of other quartets also emanated from the group.
Height of Harmony has taken part in many singing events, including competing at conventions, concerts at the Theatre Royal, and a highlight appearance on the television programme Praise Be, which was filmed at the Sacred Heart Basilica in 2005.
Now under the baton of musical director Dean Roberts, the chorus is always on the lookout for enthusiastic new members who are open to learning new skills.
Swing and Sing for Christmas will be held at 2pm on Sunday, November 24. Adults $20, children $5. Bookings are through Humanitix.com and door sales will also be available.
