Contributed by Dr. Ryan Luhrs, Hickory Choral Society Artistic Director and Conductor
When I think of childhood Christmas gatherings at the Luhrs’ home, my mind instantly goes to the CDs we played throughout the season: four Mannheim Steamroller Christmas albums. The mix of synthesized keyboards, percussion, and acoustic instruments offered reimagined versions of familiar Christmas carols, and that sound seemed to be everywhere in the late ’80s through the early 2000s. Even now, the opening of “Veni Emmanuel” in the Chip Davis arrangement can transport me back to our living room with its all-in-one Sony tape-deck/CD/radio system and our real Wisconsin Northwoods Christmas tree glowing in the middle of the room.
Many of us have our own musical markers of the season, soundtracks just as distinctive, shaped by musical tastes and the era in which we grew up. For some, Christmas lived on a stack of LPs or whatever the local radio station played from Thanksgiving until December 25. Maybe it was the simple charm of the Alfred Burt Carols or the Robert Shaw Chorale’s festive Many Moods of Christmas. For others, it might have been popular tunes such as the crooning warmth of Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas,” which went on to become the best-selling single in U.S. history across all genres.
As the Hickory Choral Society begins its 48th season, a season that will commemorate 250 years of the United States as a nation, our upcoming Christmas concert will also celebrate the composers whose voices helped shape American choral identity. We’ll include William Billings, the early American pioneer whose rugged, original style gave congregations and communities music that sounded like the young nation itself. We’ll honor composers such as Dominick Argento, whose “Gloria in excelsis” showcases his distinct harmonic language, and Daniel Pinkham, whose Christmas Cantata reflects his signature writing for brass, organ, and choir. We’ll include Moses Hogan, whose concert arrangements of African American spirituals brought the genre to unprecedented prominence; Eric Whitacre, who introduced tone clusters and harmonic colors that reshaped the contemporary choral palette; and Rosephanye Powell, whose motet The Word Was God weaves European and African American idioms, rhythms, and harmonies with her own imaginative text painting. Together, these composers contribute something original and enduring to the nation’s musical tapestry.
Our Christmas concert brings all these sounds together while also honoring our own traditions. Alongside works by Billings, Argento, Ellington, Powell, Hogan, Susa, Paulus, and Katherine K. Davis, you’ll hear North Carolina composer Lara Hoggard’s setting of “Personent Hodie” and John Rutter’s beloved arrangement of “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” It’s a concert shaped by the music that has filled American homes and concert halls for generations. We want to specifically thank the following contributors for underwriting support of this concert: Lee & Cindy Combs and Elizabeth & Michael Philhower; Vanguard Furniture; Carolina Ear, Nose & Throat Sinus and Allergy Center; FOCUS Newspaper. Without their support we could not provide performances like this.
Hickory Choral Society is a funded affiliate of Arts Culture Catawba.
Finally, thank you to ALL our contributors for your ongoing support. We hope you’ve already made your plans to join us for this year’s performances, December 12–14, at Corinth Reformed Church in Hickory. We hope to see you this weekend at concerts on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM and on Saturday and Sunday at 3 PM.
All concerts are free to the public, but those who choose to donate to the organization may be afforded membership benefits, such as preferred and reserved seating, reserved parking, and more. The 2025 -26 season memberships are available. Visit hickorychoralsociety.org for more information.
