It is high time to rejoice all across the land, these 25 singers proclaim.
The NorthWest Women’s Chorale will do just that Friday, Saturday and Monday as they present “Gaudete!” — Latin for rejoice! — in a trio of concerts around Clallam County.
Joy Lingerfelt, director of the chorale, chose a variety of challenging works for her singers. The opener, the centuries-old sacred song titled “Gaudete!,” is followed by the Canticles de Navidad from Chile; a set of carols from Latvia and a jazzy rendition of the French “Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant” (“He is born, the Holy Child”).
Then there’s the Mass No. 6 from Hungarian composer Gyorgy Orban, a piece Lingerfelt calls “gorgeous.”
This and more music will arrive at venues east, west and in between.
Three concerts
Concerts will be:
■ At the Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church, 925 N. Sequim Ave., at 7 p.m. Friday;
■ Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 250 N. Blackberry Ave. in Forks, at 2 p.m. Saturday;
■ Holy Trinity Lutheran, 301 E. Lopez Ave., Port Angeles, at 7 p.m. Monday.
Admission is a suggested $15 donation, with proceeds to support the NorthWest Women’s Chorale, a nonprofit organization born nine years ago.
The three concerts promise some gospel music, too.
“Go Where I Send Thee” and the spiritual “How Far Is It to Bethlehem?” are on the itinerary, as is “a crowd-pleasing sing-along,” Lingerfelt added.
The chorale’s collaborative pianist, Kristin Quigley Brye, will play for the singers, who come from Port Angeles, Joyce and Sequim.
At a rehearsal Monday night, the women poured themselves into their task, filling the sanctuary at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Port Angeles with song.
Lingerfelt cracked jokes — and urged them to give even more.
“What better way,” she asked, “to chase away the winter darkness?”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.