If you enjoy good food and music there’s a show this Friday in Habersham you don’t want to miss!
If Music Be The Food Of Love, Sing On! is the latest offering from Mountain Voices Community Chorus. “Everything that we are singing has food in it,” says Mountain Voices Founder and Director Donna B. James.
The choir, comprised of singers from Habersham and surrounding counties, has been performing themed concerts since its inception in 2007. This is the first time the group has built their performance around food. “It was just a topic I came up with a long time ago,” James explains. “I plan our concerts about six to eight years out. As I come across (musical) pieces that I really love, I try to find programs that they’ll fit into.”
Even with a well-thought out theme planned year’s in advance, this time James says there was still something missing. “You have to have food when you’re singing about food,” she insists. So, she turned to her friend and local restaurateur Lee Hull.
Hull’s Sweet Breads restaurant in Demorest is known for its decadent desserts. It proved to be the perfect fit for this first-of-its-kind Mountain Voices event. “We were talking about food and I thought, ‘Well wouldn’t it be fun to do a dessert show?’ Lee is a friend of mine and he said, ‘Sure, we’ll do it.'”
Sweet Breads is catering the event, offering four different desserts, coffee and tea. For $5 (cash only) concert goers may purchase dessert and a drink then settle in for a smorgasbord of musical delights.
“We’re doing a beautiful song based on the poem that inspired the theme. We’re also doing a wonderful piece from The Baker’s Wife,” James enthuses.
Keeping the music alive
Now in its eleventh year, this will be Mountain Voices’ 45th concert. The choir performs fall, spring and summer pops concerts annually. They also perform occasional Sunday afternoon concerts and routinely participate in community-wide events such as Habersham Medical Center’s Love Light.
Currently, there are 28 adult choir members and nine kids in the affiliated Foothills Children’s Choir. Members come and go seasonally, as their schedules allow. Membership is open to anyone in Habersham and surrounding counties who is interested in singing. “We have different folks each time,” explains James. “There’s only one lady who’s been with us 40 of the times we’ve performed.”
James is a classically trained, highly regarded musician. Music has been part of her life since an early age. She started the choir to have a place where her children and mother could sing together. Her three children now are all nearly grown and her mother’s voice has been silenced by age and poor health, still, she keeps the music alive with the help of co-director Emily Allison and accompanist Alyssa Sellers.
Their concerts are planned through 2025.
“We do stuff that people don’t get a chance to sing much anywhere else,” explains James. “We have a sacred portion and a secular portion. The church choir has kind of dwindled away and this is in response to that.”
She says nearly 200 people have participated in the choir since it began. “It has definitely filled a niche. People were ready for something like this and they still are. We’ve had a very consistent audience supporting us.”
James hopes to expand Mountain Voices’ fan base with Friday’s dessert show. It will be held in the fellowship hall at Cornelia United Methodist Church located at 275 Wyly Street in Cornelia, GA 30531. Dessert will be served on a first come, first serve basis beginning at 6:30 p.m. The concert follows at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
James says, “We hope new folks will come and check us out!”
New themes for a new year
Rehearsals for Mountain Voices’ spring concert begin January 9, 2018. The theme is “How’s the Weather?” It will be followed by a Disney-themed concert next summer.
If you’re interested in performing with Mountain Voices or would like more information on upcoming events, contact Donna James at [email protected]. You can also find the Habersham County based Mountain Voices Community Chorus on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1433816173507990/.
Editor’s Note: In addition to her musical talent, Donna B. James is a gifted writer. She writes a weekly column for Now Habersham called “Monday’s with Mom: My life as a Caregiver” which chronicles her journey as caregiver to her ailing, elderly mother. View Donna’s most recent column at https://nowhabersham.com/mondays-mom-candy/.
