CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The annual Christmas concert by the Appalachian Children’s Chorus will look a lot different this year.
Typically the chorus will fill up Charleston’s Baptist Temple with several hundred spectators to see a live performance. However, during the pandemic, that wasn’t an option, so the next best thing according to organizers with the chorus, will be a virtual concert set to play three times over the coming weekend.
“We recorded the songs the children learned throughout the semester last week and we’ll have it virtually through Facebook,” said Audrey Pitonak-Goff, Executive Director of the Chorus.
She added they wanted to use the concert as a way to bring some brightness to what has been an otherwise gloomy year for many. Songs were specifically selected to deliver messages of hope, unity, and peace to hurting communities according to Pitonak-Goff. The concerts will be free and will air live on the Appalachian Children’s Chorus Facebook page.
Show times will be 7 p.m. on December 18 and 19 and 4 p.m. December 20.
“We wanted to make sure the message of the songs they are singing will bring some hope and peace to all of us,” she said.
The choir members wore specially made “singers masks” and were socially distanced for the event. Despite having no crowd, Pitonak-Goff said the children didn’t seem to be bothered.
“The did a fantastic job with that. I think part of that is that we rehearsed so many times together and in the church. They performed beautifully even without the audience,” she said.