The Stettler Alliance Church was packed to capacity this Sunday evening, Dec. 4 as Cantus Choir and Jazz Guys performed to an enthralled audience.
Under the expertise of Choir Director Gordon Moorlag, the Cantus Choir with 18 members performed about 14 numbers, some in conjunction with Jazz Guys.
"We used to have two annual performances before, one at springtime and one during Christmas" said Moorlag. "But now with many of the members being away during winter, we only have one performance."
With six altos, five sopranos, four bass and three tenors, the balance is just about right, said Moorlag, although he would love to have another tenor join the choir.
"We usually start with non-seasonal numbers and then halfway through change it up to some festive ones," Moorlag added.
All the non-festive numbers however, were not sung in isolation, with a strong theme of birth and revival prevalent.
One of the Cantus Choir members, Sue Peterson who has been with the group for 24 years said, "Last night felt good singing, although a few of us were fighting colds. We always have fun in rehearsal learning the pieces Gordon has chosen for us then look forward to sharing them with our loyal fans."
The Jazz Guys came to stage and their first number "All of Us" was in collaboration with the Cantus Choir, which was just the beginning of the other seven numbers they would perform that evening.
One of the band members, Eric Rahn said, "It was a great pleasure to be part of the Cantus Choir concert. Last year was the first time we tried it and it seemed to work very well. The next logical step was to do a piece together and that had actually been a long time dream of mine."
According to Rahn, Moorlag did a wonderful job and they would love to continue the tradition.
"We really enjoyed 'All of Us' arranged by Rick Stitzel because we actually met, and worked with him a few weeks ago at a jazz band workshop," Rahn added. "Having the person who arranged the piece work and directs you in a concert of his own material is a challenging, but exciting experience. I was very proud of the group as they really showed their talents."
As the evening ended with the audience applauding the performance, taking in the soulful music and harmony of these two local groups, it was easy to see how integral Cantus Choir and Jazz Guys have been to the Stettler music landscape over the years.