Happy Holidays! Songs to ring out loud

The Fine Arts Center is bringing more old-fashioned holiday cheer to the season in a way that has all but been forgotten through singing traditional Christmas carols.

The vocals of Sidney residents will fill the Old Heritage Theater and show anyone stopping in the great acoustics the theater offers.

Jordan Ball, director of the singers and instrumentalist, is extending an invitation for people to participate or come listen to the singers during the Sidney Arts Center Carol Sing on Sun., Dec. 2.

Ball became involved with the Fine Arts Center through his friendship with Jesse Nelson.

“No one can turn Jess down,” he laughed, “if you know Jess you just want to help him out. And it’s good for people in the community to have an outlet to sing, I feel honored to have been asked by Jess to do a few things.”

Ball’s first undertaking for the Fine Arts Center since the call for singers and instrumentalists is an afternoon of Christmas cheer in the form of carols.

“This “Christmas in Song” - (the caroling book the singers are going to use) – is a set of carols that is a very well-known and time honored piece of music. It has about 70 carols in it and they are in four parts if people want to sing harmony or they can be sung in unison. When people come they can select if they want to just sing melody or if they want to sing parts in it. In addition to the carols we will be singing T’was the Night Before Christmas. It’s really fun to sing and it’s very easy, really, so it won’t take us a long time, even somebody struggling to learn notes.”

“It’s a good way to start to get people to look at doing this regularly during the Christmas season on Sunday afternoons. We are trying to have events at the center and having it on Sunday afternoon because that is the time most people can get together,” Ball said to the dates.

He also said that the singers and he will discuss if this will be one of many caroling days. “I want to schedule only as many times as the group is interested in getting together. Since we just organized it we are feeling our way along. They (the singers already interested) had a number of good suggestions about what they would like to do.

In regards to people wishing to participate, during what may be more than one day of carols, Ball said, “We had about 15 people come to the first meeting, I was encouraged that there were that many, and we had about four men. But we have to have more men so we can have balance. We are together for about an hour and 15 minutes, last time, and probably the length of time we will be there.”

“In addition we have an arranger who has arranged at least one carol for us. And we worked on that last time we were together. I am trying not to work people too hard, the idea is to enjoy singing Christmas Carols and some of the Christmas music having a good time for an hour and fifteen minutes or so.”

Ball said in the past singers in groups have sung around town during the holiday season to create a more festive atmosphere to the downtown area.

“If the group is interested in doing that, I am certainly interested in going with them and directing it as we sing carols around town. I am trying to let the group decide on what we are going to do together rather than saying we are going to do this, this and this. So I don’t tax them too much because this is really just for fun.”

Ball did say there are more plans in the future for his singers and instrumentalist, but he is holding off announcing such an event until he is completely ready to present it to the public.

There is a goal Ball said he would like to achieve with this musical outlet to the public, “My goal is to provide and outlet for singers and instrumentalist who do not get to sing or play instruments very much and would like to participate. With the hope they will enjoy and benefit from it.”