ALTON/GODFREY - The Great Rivers Choral Society is hosting a Christmas concert celebration titled “A Holly Jolly Christmas” throughout the second weekend of December at multiple times and locations. The concert is free to the public, though a free-will offering will be collected.

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The dates/times of the concert with corresponding locations are as follows:

  • Friday Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. - Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 717 State Street, Alton
  • Saturday December 10, 2022 at 3 p.m. - Godfrey First United Methodist Church, 1100 Airport Road, Godfrey
  • Sunday Dec. 11 at 3 p.m - Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 717 State Street, Alton

Music Director Raynard Brown said this concert will feature both traditional and modern renditions of classic Christmas songs.

“It’s going to be pretty much straightforward Christmas selections. We go from ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,’ … we have the Charlie Brown ‘Christmas Time is Here,’ and we have ‘You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch,’ along with some new varieties of old Christmas hymns such as Joy to the World, which is redone by a group called The Pink Zebra,” Brown said. “So hopefully, we’ll be able to reach people of any age so when they come, our goal is to have them leave full of the Christmas spirit.”

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He said the group is fully prepared for this next concert, and that they’ve gotten a great reception from the community.

“The group is sounding amazing … I’m going by the audience reaction, some of the comments, audience people coming up to me and saying things. One of my favorite comments of this last concert was, a lady walked up to me and said ‘Your Altos are unbelievable!’” he said. “Unbeknownst to her, that was actually one of the goals of the group - that our sections would be more rock-solid … that’s exactly what happened, and we were really excited by that.”

Brown added that he's hoping for a big turnout for this event, both to shine the spotlight on the Great Rivers Choral Society and "help Alton be the musical town that I know it really is."

For more information about "A Holly Jolly Christmas," visit the Riverbender.com Events page.

To learn more about the Great Rivers Choral Society, visit their website at grcssing.org.

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