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Sing out strong
CHORAL SOCIETY FOSTERS LOVE AND JOY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
BY KATHLEEN WILLIAMS | PHOTOS BY GUSTAVO RATTIA
O
n a recent weekend, with just a few rehearsals left to go before their big holiday concert, members of the Hilton Head Choral Society are hard at work. As they practice in the sun-drenched dining room at the Country Club of Hilton Head, their attention seems to shift from Tim Reynolds, their longtime artistic director, to their sheet music. Paying close attention to the sheet music is critical: they’ve marked up every page in pencil to make sure they give Reynolds exactly what he wants from each alto, tenor, soprano, and bass when singing a particular bar of music. The singers take Reynolds, and the music, very seriously. As Reynolds moves among them, he keeps time by snapping his fingers. “It’s trickier than it looks, it’s trickier than it sounds,” he says of the “Nativity Carol” they’re rehearsing.
200 hiltonheadmonthly.com
There is an easy camaraderie, but the choir is not goofing around. The concert -- their biggest of the year -- is a little more than a month away and there’s no time to waste. Among the choir’s 85 members are six married couples, united by their love of music, which brings them to practice every Sunday night for two hours. Sheryl Lowe joined the choral society in 2012. “I would be singing songs at home, and my husband, Walter, would join in,” she said. “One Christmas, I unwrapped one of my presents from him, and it was a program. I said to him, ‘What’s this? Did you buy season tickets? He said, ‘I joined!’ ” That was a quite a Christmas present, Sheryl said. “We come every week now. It’s something that we can do together. This is something that we both enjoy.”
