Blue Ridge
Vocal Connection
For our December, 2022
Christmas in the Air…Waves
concerts, we’re performing
selections from:
All I Want for Christmas Is You
Believe
Children, Go Where I Send Thee
Deck the Nutcracker Hall
Holiday Road
Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth
My Grown Up Christmas List
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Silent Night
Silver Bells (with real bells!)
Sweet Little Jesus Boy
That’s Christmas to Me
The First Noel
The Holly & the Ivy
Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne
Up on the Housetop
Blue Ridge Vocal Connection Members
Forest Arnold
Kat Birchfield
Florence Bishop
Thomas DeBusk*
Linda Dickerson
Mark Freeman
Lesa Gardner
Betty Goetz
Genne Gwynne
Margaret Hrezo
Beth Ifju
Pam Kirkner
Staley Lyle
Jenny Marin
Steve Miller
Donald Orth
Pamela Parker-White*
Frank Parries
Erin Phoenix
Ruth Rosborough
Betsy Seagondollar
Becky Shaver*
Eric Shock
Jean Shock
Russell Shock*
Bryan Stafford+
Ernie Stalnaker
Bonnie Vaught
Sandra Wright
Gratitude
(please be generous about letting these people know how much you appreciate their contributions)
*These Executive Committee Members contribute a lot of behind-the-scenes effort to make this all work:
Thomas DeBusk • Director
Becky Shaver • President
Russell Shock • Vice President
• Secretary
Pamela Parker-White • Treasurer
• Member at Large
#Staley Lyle makes playing the piano look easy. (It’s not.)
+Please recognize Bryan Stafford for supplying & operating the sound equipment for today’s concert! It’s no small task
Lastly, WE want to thank YOU, our audience, for attending today. We can only encourage and uplift the members of our community who come to our concerts. So THANK YOU for sharing this music with us, and for telling your friends & family members how much you enjoyed today’s show and encouraging them to attend our next performances…\
…on the phone,
…by email,
…on digital media,
…by carrier pigeon.
Tenting on the Old Campground
Words & Music: Walter Kittredge
Copyright: 1864
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Words: Julia Ward Howe
Music: adapted from John Brown’s Body
Copyright: 1862
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Words & Music: Patrick S. Gilmore, writing as Louis Lambert, adapted from “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye”.
Copyright: 1863
This is an original arrangement by Thomas DeBusk, created for this concert series. He’s the director.
It was inspired in part by a performance of “Tenting on the Old Campground” by the New River Valley Community Chorus last November.
This fantasie starts with a handful of men commiserating around a battlefield campfire, the progresses to a joyous celebration as the survivors receive a hero’s welcome at home. Picture porches & streets filling with excited home folks straining for a glimpse of returning soldiers.
Words: Sheldon Harnick
Music: Jerry Bock
Arranger: Mason Gottschalk
Copyright: 1960
This is an original arrangement by Mason Gottschalk. He’s playing the piano today.
Lyricist Sheldon Harnick wrote about this song:
“I do remember when we wrote "Sunrise Sunset," the first person we played it for was Jerry Bock's wife...and when I finished, then I looked at Jerry's wife Patti and I was startled to see that she was crying. And I thought my goodness; this song must be more effective than we even know. And the same thing happened – I am not a pianist but the music to "Sunrise Sunset" is easy enough so that I could learn the piano part – and I played it for my sister. And when I finished I looked and she had tears in her eyes. And that was a very unusual experience.”
Words: Ned Washington
Music: Frank Churchill
Arranger: Thomas L. DeBusk
Copyright: 1941
Betty Noyes sang this song for the 1941 Disney movie, Dumbo. Dumbo’s mother sings it while she’s confined in a cage with her trunk cradling her newborn son through the bars.
(Psss…about those chime ringers: they might look like seasoned pros, but they just started on this song last week. Let them know how impressed you are with their expertise.)
Words: Tim Rice
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Copyright: 1970
In its original context, this song had centerpiece placement in the rock opera, Jesus Christ, Superstar. Mary Magdalene is the speaker who asked the question: “how do I relate to a man who loves and respects me, unlike many other men who’ve gone before and merely used me?”
Just like today, the question of what constitutes true love was neither old then, and isn’t any newer now.
Words: Mike Love, Terry Melcher, John Phillips, & Scott McKenzie
Arranger: Mark Brymer
Copyright: 1988
American Folk Ballad
Arranger: Jay Althouse
Duet: Thomas L. DeBusk & Mark D. Freeman
Piano: Mason Gottschalk
Words: Hal David
Music: Burt Bacharach
Arranger: Philip Lawson
Copyright: 1964
This sad breakup song have been recorded several famous singers, including Dionne Warwick (1964), Barbra Streisand (1971), and Luther Vandross (1981).
Traditional American Melody
Words: John Newton
Additional Words & Music: Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio
Arranger: Tom Fettke
Words: Bill Lane
Music: Roger Nichols
Arranger: Thomas L. DeBusk. He’s still the director.
Kodak created an advertising campaign in 1975 that featured Anka singing a jingle entitled "Times of Your Life". While the tune was being heard across the United States in a commercial, Anka decided to record and release it as a single in late 1975. The song became a hit in the U.S., reaching number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1976 and remaining in the Top 40 for 12 weeks.
This arrangement was created to serve as the theme song for this concert series. It’s designed to encourage audience members to reflect thoughtfully on enriching life experiences and embrace future ones with excitement and anticipation.
Words & Music by Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman
Choral & Accompaniment arranged by Greg Gilpin.
Kazoo duet added by Mason Gottschalk
Copyright: 1960
