Valley of the Moon Chamber Ensemble in holiday concerts

Hark! The heralded Valley of the Moon Chamber Ensemble sings!|

Music lovers of all kinds have two chances to see the Valley of the Moon Chamber Ensemble present its holiday program this weekend. There will be a gala performance on Saturday night, and a matinee concert on Sunday. Either way, the ensemble is a great way to jump-start your holiday season.

Local physician Brian Sebastian carries the title of “Founding Artistic Director” of the chamber ensemble. It all started in 2006, when he hosted an informal Christmas party at his home and the idea of forming an ensemble was conceived. The guests and other founding members were Sheila Whitney, Greg Grabow, Jerome Smith and Shannon Scott.

Whitney recalls that night at Sebastian’s house. “He invited me and a few more singers. After much delicious food and grog we got to singing around his piano,” said Whitney. “After some joyful noise, Brian proposed his nefarious plan: to start a chamber ensemble.”

A year later, the Valley of the Moon Chamber Ensemble gave its first of many benefit performances. It was a smashingly successful Christmas concert held at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art.

The concerts this weekend will benefit the Sonoma Community Center’s arts and cultural education programs. To date, the VOMCE has raised more than $110,000 for the Community Center, according to Sebastian.

The VOM Chamber Ensemble is, as Sebastian said, “all homegrown, all Sonoma.” Performances are primarily in the Valley, eight of the 18 members live here, and rehearsals are held locally as well.

In advance of the holiday program, the ensemble practices weekly. Since all the singers can sight read and know their parts well, the Thursday practices are focused on the finer aspects of the performance.

“Rehearsals are all about blending, dynamics, and nuance,” said Sebastian. Without mastering the subtle components, Sebastian said, a musical piece can seem lifeless and dull. Rehearsal is where an inspired performance is honed.

Occasionally “sectional” rehearsals are held, when the baritones, basses and tenors can focus their work on their specific parts. The sopranos and altos may also hold “sectional” rehearsals.

A critically important component of concerts like these is the selection of songs or pieces. Occasionally, a concert will focus on the works of a specific composer.

Sebastian, however, says “I don’t like a program that is one composer. That gets real boring.”

When asked from where they draw their material, Sebastian mentioned a surprising source: Along with the traditional recordings and broadcasts, he said, “I listen to Pandora’s choral station. And Pandora’s Christmas station. I occasionally hear some new and interesting stuff.”

What attracts Sebastian to a particular piece are its “melody and harmony.”

Said Sebastian: “I like cerebral material, and it needs to be singable.”

“We will be performing our usual variety of works and audience favorites from the Renaissance to the romantic, to the contemporary,” the ensemble promises on its website. Included will be pieces by William Byrd, Anton Bruckner, Sergey Khvoshchinsky, Francis Poulenc and Sergei Rachmaninoff, among others.

Typically, the ensemble performs a capella. The Christmas program will also feature a pianist who will invite the audience to join in.

“We like to have audience participation in carols,” Sebastian said. The attendees can expect to sing along with the ensemble on three familiar Christmas songs.

The Saturday gala will take place in the barrel room at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards at 6 p.m. The acoustic nature of the room, being a working winery building with concrete floors and walls, provides the perfect resonance for a capella voices.

Sunday’s matinee performance, at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, is at 2 p.m. The light and airy space there should be another excellent venue for the sublime voices of the Valley of the Moon Chamber Ensemble.

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