Clovis chorus Christmas concert returning

For the first time since 2019, the Clovis Community Chorus will present its annual Christmas Concert, scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday.

President of the chorus board of directors Wayne Anderson said the COVID-19 pandemic prevented them from holding the concert in the intervening years.

The chorus will hold its concert at the First United Methodist Church located on 1501 North Sycamore Street in Clovis. Admission is free.

Choir director Tami Martin said the community has been holding this Christmas concert for at least the past 14 years since she has been in Clovis, with the exception of the COVID years.

"We do a Christmas concert and a spring concert," Martin said.

She said the choir, composed of about 40 people, includes many employees from the school district, both Clovis and Portales school teachers, farmers, former business owners, high school students, military families, ministers, housewives – "a whole gamut of people."

"One of the joys of my week is to direct the choir," she said. "I enjoy the people and we have tons of laughter."

Martin is also the choir director at the Clovis High School Freshman Academy.

"One of our goals is to give choir members the experience of singing in a group that challenges them," she said. "It also allows them to be involved in music after high school."

"The Clovis area is a very music oriented community," Martin said. "The concert gives people the opportunity to get together in a small community that maybe doesn't have that many community events to go to."

"This year's program includes arrangements of the Christmas carols "Joy to the World" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem," accompanied by oboe soloist Mycah Smith, a very talented ENMU music student," Anderson wrote in an email. "The chorus will also sing several new Christmas songs including "Sing We Noel," "Listen as the Snowflakes Fall," and "Christmastime." The concert will feature a sing-a-long of "Deck the Halls" and "Silent Night."

"The chorus ... has spent several months preparing what promises to be a very special evening of beautiful choral music," Anderson said. "Admission is free and there will be a reception with homemade delights and punch following the concert."

"The big fundraiser for the chorus is the advertising in the Christmas program," he said. Thirty-four businesses have purchased ads.

The chorus will subsidize the meals for 40 students from Clovis and 19 from Portales to go to All State Choir this year, he said. All State Choir is scheduled Jan. 5-7 in Albuquerque at The University of New Mexico.

Besides serving on the board of directors, Anderson is a tenor in the choir.

Retired now, he was the choir director at Clovis High School for 23 years, he said. "It was my absolute pleasure to teach high school students how to sing, especially in a choral setting. I enjoyed watching the students grow musically and vocally. It was truly a blessing to see them interact socially and form friendships and sing with great discipline and energy in rehearsals and in concert."